Invisible Touch
by Tempestia
Summary: Rhiannon O'Connor's life is pretty dull. She takes care of her niece, Kiara, while her sister works with the WWE. When Rhian's life is suddenly turned upside down she realises that she's put her own dreams on hold long enough. Pls R
1. Melancholy

"C'mon Rhian. You have to get up, we're going to be late." The whispered plea brought Rhiannon reluctantly back to the consciousness she'd been fighting most of the night. With a barely audible sigh, she turned her back on the first rays of sunlight that had discreetly crept through the window just moments before and fixed her gaze on the angelic face that stared down at her with a worried frown.  
  
"Kiara...did you sleep?" Rhiannon asked and the girl shook her head, long honey-blond hair falling in her face. Rhiannon sighed, louder this time before throwing the covers back. "Me either." Kiara jumped onto the bed and gave her Aunt a hug. The two lay there silently as they both tried to gather the strength to face the day and Rhiannon absently wondered when it had become such a hard task to get out of bed. Forcing herself to slowly rise from the warm comfort of her bed, she turned her thoughts to getting her young charge prepared for another day, which had become increasingly difficult lately. "Have you decided what you want for breakfast?"  
  
"Nope." The girl's answer was somewhat despondent as Rhiannon shooed her off the bed in an attempt to re-make it.  
  
"Well, what would you like? I can make you waffles? Pancakes? Toast?" The suggestion was hopeful, although she was almost certain that her niece would reject the offer, as she always did.  
  
"No thanks." Kiara's golden hair covered her face as she leaned dejectedly against the bedroom wall. Rhiannon finally turned around with a no nonsense expression on her face and her hands on her hips.  
  
"Well, you have to eat something, girl. I won't let you waste away in front of my eyes." She replied in a slightly harsh tone of voice, not in the mood for any shit this early in the morning.  
  
"I said no, Rhian. I'm not hungry." The girl replied forcefully and Rhiannon growled in frustration, but not about to give in.  
  
"Kiara, if you don't start treating your body with respect, you'll make yourself ill. I'm almost certain that your mother will think that I'm unfit to look after you if she sees you in this state. All I want is for you to have a little bit of breakfast, at least. Is that really too much to ask?" Rhiannon realised that she may have been somewhat dramatic, but she could see that it had shocked Kiara slightly and at least gotten her thinking a little bit.  
  
"Okay, cereal then. Just a little." She consented after a long silence and Rhiannon breathed an audible sigh of relief ahead of giving her niece a long hug.  
  
"Thank you sweetie. Now off you go and get ready, you don't want to be late for school." Kiara nodded shortly and shuffled out of her aunt's bedroom, obviously unhappy about losing the argument.  
  
Rhiannon crossed the room to open her curtains. She spent a few minutes contemplating calling in sick; the thought of going into work today was almost unbearable. But, she knew that she had to do it otherwise she'd just spend the whole day curled up on the couch watching daytime soaps and feeling sorry for herself. Determined not to waste the day on such a futile task, she grabbed her outfit for work and had a quick shower.  
  
Slowly as she dressed, Rhiannon felt the familiar loathing come over her, as she did every time she put the uniform on. It was always the same. Black underwear, black faded jeans, black form-fitting t-shirt, black ankle boots and, lastly, the black hair tie to hold her thick mane of dark auburn hair back from her face.  
  
"I need a new job." She sighed to herself as she gave the vanity unit a quick wipe down, before reluctantly making her way down the stairs into the kitchen she'd spent most of the night cleaning. That's what she did whenever a bout of insomnia hit. She'd clean. And consequently, the entire house was almost always immaculate. Quickly throwing some bread into the toaster, she managed to get Kiara's breakfast ready while the girl, who was always ready at least a half an hour before her Aunt, sat in the living room watching TV. "Come on honey, eat your breakfast and then I'll do your hair." Rhiannon called through the door and Kiara moped her way to the kitchen table and proceeded to play with her food.  
  
"Kiara." Rhian raised an eyebrow at the girl, realising that this was a continuation of the argument they'd had upstairs. "Eat your breakfast. Now."  
  
The girl sighed in an exaggerated fashion and started to slowly chew down her food. Rhiannon rolled her eyes at the childish display, grabbed her toast and coffee and sat across from Kiara who continued to eat tiny mouthfuls as slowly as possible.  
  
"Do you want me to do your hair this morning?" She asked and took a sip of strong black coffee just as the phone rang. "Shit." She jumped, spilling the scalding liquid down her shirt and burning her tongue at the same time.  
  
"Language." Kiara said mildly, imitating the way Rhiannon so often scolded her Mother when her tongue slipped. She gave the girl a look that was not to be argued with and quickly answered the phone in the living room. Kiara didn't need to eavesdrop anyway, she knew as soon as the phone had rung, just as Rhiannon had, that it was her mother calling. When Rhiannon returned to the kitchen fifteen or so minutes later, she was wearing a new shirt. The distant look on her face alerted Kiara to the fact that there was something wrong.  
  
"Rhian?" Kiara whispered, trying to get her distracted Aunt's attention.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Well? What did she say?" She asked, insistent this time and Rhiannon frowned, looking worried now.  
  
"Come on love. Finish your breakfast so I can do your hair." Kiara shook her head with a distant look on her face and before she could stop herself, the question she'd been suppressing popped out of her mouth unbidden.  
  
"She's not coming back, is she?" Rhiannon's eyes widened in shock and she placed her coffee down on the bench, too shocked to answer right away.  
  
"What? Oh, Kiara of course she's coming back. What on earth would make you think that she wouldn't?" She raced over to her niece's side and grabbed her shoulders gently. When the girl didn't answer, Rhiannon gave her a hug and tried to reassure her. "You listen to me Kiara. Your Mum loves you so, so much, but the job she has right now is very demanding honey, she has to travel a lot. If there was a way around that, I'm sure she'd take it, but I don't think she has any choice. She just rang to tell me that she's running a bit late and she'll be back next weekend, okay?" Kiara forced a smile and nodded, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry Rhian." She cleared her throat and got up to put her bowl in the sink. "I didn't really think she'd gone. It was stupid of me to ask." She avoided her Aunt's shrewd eyes as she spoke, knowing that she'd break down if she did.  
  
"It wasn't stupid of you. But don't ever think that your Mother is going to abandon you, she loves you more than life." Rhian said slowly, "If you do need to talk about things though, I'm here for you Kiara. I know how hard it is for you with your Mum always on the road." Kiara just nodded and Rhian's heart ached to see her niece feeling so abandoned and hurt.  
  
"We should go. We're going to be late." Kiara said softly, picking up her bag and Rhiannon looked at the clock.  
  
"You don't want me to do your hair?" Kiara shook her head and forced a smile, almost tripping over her feet in her haste to get out of the house.  
  
"Jesus, what am I doing?" Rhiannon leaned against the bench and looked up at the ceiling. It was hard taking care of such a sensitive child, especially since she'd never had any children of her own. She sometimes wondered whether she was doing more harm than good, but her sister Imogen didn't trust anyone else to take care of the child.  
  
For the past three and a half years, Rhiannon had been taking care of Kiara while Imogen was on the road with the WWE. And after her behaviour of late, it was obvious that Kiara was miserable and blamed herself for her mother's absence.  
  
"Damn you Imogen. You should be here for your child!" She cursed in an angry whisper, throwing the coffee cup in the sink and quickly buttering a piece of toast to take with her in the car.  
  
She ran out of the door, her bag flying off her shoulder as she jumped into the vehicle and Kiara gave her an amused look. "You're always in a hurry Rhian." Rhian threw her niece a quick smile.  
  
"I'm always running late." She put the piece of toast in her mouth and started the car as Kiara shook her head and turned the stereo on.  
  
"It'll be okay." Kiara said so quietly that Rhian almost missed it and as they drove down the street in silence she had to wonder whether she was right. 


	2. Frustration

Sorry, I forgot to put a disclaimer at the beginning of the first chapter. Since this is the first fan-fic I've posted here, I would appreciate any pointers anyone can give me, so please read & review. Thank you!

Disclaimer: The only people I own in this fic are the ones I created (Rhiannon, Kiara, Kylie, Imogen, Megan...sorry if I left any out.) I am in no way affiliated with the WWE or any other organisation that may be mentioned in the story in the future.

"I know, I'm late, I'm sorry!" Kylie looked up from her task to see Rhiannon confronted by the Megan, the manager of the café they worked in.  
  
"Rhiannon, this is just not good enough! You've been late at least once, sometimes twice, a week for the past month! If you continue to ignore my request to get to work at a decent time, I suggest you find a store with more flexible working hours. Understand?" Rhiannon turned to face the tall, sour woman, of the mind to tell her where to stick her job when Kylie cleared her throat to get her attention. She glanced briefly at her friend before smiling sweetly at Megan.  
  
"Of course. I understand completely." She then turned and walked over to Kylie with a look that could kill plastered on her face. "God, I hate that woman." She snapped throwing her bag behind the counter after Megan was out of earshot.  
  
"I know Rhian, but you need this job. Don't let her get to you." Kylie replied firmly as she started to make a couple of cappuccinos, cautiously eyeing Megan, who was serving a customer at the front of the store.  
  
"Well, it's not like I don't have enough on my plate right now. My job might as well suck too." Rhiannon caught the amused glance that Kylie gave her and sighed. "Sorry. It's not really that bad, I'm just really worried about Kiara. She's so miserable. She blames herself for her mother traipsing across the countryside like a bloody circus performer." Kylie stifled a giggle and Rhian hit her lightly on the arm.  
  
"Sorry, I just had a mental image of your sister in a circus. I promise, I'll be serious now." Rhian laughed softly then nodded.  
  
"Okay, maybe I am a bit jealous that she's living her dream. I'll admit that, but she has responsibilities that she doesn't seem aware of. She's thirty years old and a mother, yet she doesn't seem to take it seriously. She's barely around for Kiara at all!"  
  
"I know, but you shouldn't be telling me this. Your sister needs to hear it, and preferably from her daughter."  
  
"It's a little bit difficult when her daughter clams up as soon as the subject is raised. When Imogen is here, Kiara's fine, she really comes out of her shell. But as soon as she leaves, bam! She just closes up again. It's like she's two different people and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be handling it."  
  
"You're not! Imogen should be, and we both know it. You aren't that girl's mother, although, you are the closest thing she's got to one." Kylie admitted and a helpless look appeared on Rhiannon's face.  
  
"So what do I do? I want to take care of Kiara, for her sake, not her mother's. But she needs Imogen there. It doesn't matter how much I'm there for her; I'm not her mother. I'm not enough for her."  
  
"Rhian, that girl adores you. You may not be her mother, but she looks up to you in a different way. And anyway, things just can't keep going on like this. You have to talk to your sister before it's too late. Kiara's almost thirteen years old now. It's a confusing time for the parents as well as the child. Kiara doesn't need more confusion added on to that and you don't need to be the surrogate parent during that time. It's Imogen's responsibility and she needs to know that, no matter how hard it is to tell her." Kylie told her friend firmly. As much as she sympathised with Rhiannon, she also knew that she had a tendency to martyr herself and had to be set straight before she started with the self-pitying.  
  
"You're right Ky, as always!" Rhian laughed, realising she knew what she'd have to do all along. She'd just hoped for a different answer.  
  
"Of course I am. Now, onto more important matters, are we up for drinks after work?" She grinned and Rhiannon shook her head regretfully.  
  
"I'd love to, but Imogen isn't back 'till next week."  
  
"Well, why don't you get Mrs. Santiago to watch Kiara for a couple of hours?" She suggested before Rhiannon gave her a look and she remembered the rules. "Of course! No one bar you and the after-school care people are to watch Kiara at any time. You never know what strange, unnatural things people are into!" She mimicked Imogen's Irish lilt perfectly and Rhiannon laughed loudly.  
  
"Yes, exactly. Shame on you for even thinking of such a thing!" She grinned before catching Megan's disapproving glare. "Sprung!" She giggled and Kylie rolled her eyes. "How about you come over for a video night? I'm sure Kiara would love it, we can still have a couple of drinks."  
  
"Sure. Sounds like fun, as long as you don't pick the movies." Kylie compromised and Rhiannon looked hurt.  
  
"Why not? I pick great movies thank you very much!" She replied indignantly and Kylie laughed at the memory of the last movie night they had.  
  
"Oh yes! Blood and guts all the way! You told me Kiara didn't sleep for a week after last time." Rhiannon nodded thoughtfully after that reminder.  
  
"On second thoughts, you pick the movies, I'll do the food."  
  
"Thank you very much. Now, why don't you see to that customer before Megan blows a blood vessel?" Kylie pointed to a striking man who had sat down alone a few moments ago and was reading the paper. Rhiannon raised an eyebrow and, with a grin, grabbed her pen and pad as she moved to comply.  
  
"Good morning, sir. Are you ready to order?" She asked pleasantly and the man looked up startled and flicked his multi-coloured hair out of his green- hazel eyes to view her better. A slow smile spread over his face as he looked her over.  
  
"Actually, maybe you can. You wouldn't be Rhiannon O'Connor would you?" He asked in a smooth southern drawl and Rhian frowned warily, knowing that she'd seen this rainbow haired man somewhere before, but not being able to place him.  
  
"Yes I am. Who's asking?" He grinned broadly and leaned back in his chair, looking pleased with himself.  
  
"My name is Jeff Hardy. You don't recognise me do you?" Rhiannon's eyes widened briefly as she suddenly realised who he was.  
  
"Oh, of course. The wrestler. You work with my sister, yeah?" As Jeff nodded, Rhiannon's smile became slightly strained. "Hmmm...well, nice to meet you. What would you like to order?"  
  
"Um, I haven't quite decided yet..."  
  
"Well, just give me a yell when you're ready, okay?" She said with forced cheerfulness and began to walk away. Jeff half rose from his seat, and reached out a hand to stop her.  
  
"Please wait, I was just hoping that we could talk for a minute." He pleaded, somewhat confused by the girl's cold demeanor. She rolled her eyes in frustration and turned back to give him the brush off, once and for all.  
  
"Look, Jeff, I'm not actually supposed to socialise with customers, especially when we're so busy." She gestured around the almost full café impatiently. "So why don't you tell me what it is you want. That way we can say goodbye and you can go back to Imogen and tell her all about the wonderful experience you had here today...hmmm?" He raised an eyebrow at her restless tone and tried to bite back the smile that was threatening to form on his face.  
  
"Actually, I was hoping we could have lunch?" He asked hopefully and Rhiannon placed her hands on her hips, her green eyes flashing with irritation.  
  
"You just don't take a damn hint, do you?"  
  
"Never. So what do you say?"  
  
"I know what I'd like to say." She mumbled and he burst out laughing.  
  
"Do you treat all your customers this way?" He asked in amusement, admiring her straightforward manner, as she turned to walk away.  
  
"Only the ones who use my job as an excuse to hang around and make a nuisance of themselves."  
  
"Well, I didn't exactly mean to make a nuisance of myself, but I did want to talk to you. I'm a bit worried about Imogen." He admitted quietly and Rhiannon smiled in victory.  
  
"So now the truth comes out." She nodded and he shrugged helplessly. "Fine, I'll have lunch with you. I break at 1.30. Don't be late, I only have half an hour." She warned and Jeff smiled gratefully.  
  
"Thanks a lot. You really make a guy work hard, don't you?" He joked and she raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You think that was hard, just try getting me out on a date." She informed him, before going back to the counter. Jeff shook his head with a laugh and nodded to Kylie, who was looking him over curiously as he rose and walked out the door.


	3. Empathy

Thanks for the reviews guys! Much appreciated. :)

(Oh, and one more note, I'm actually posting this story somewhere else under the name of Storm, so if anyone sees it, don't worry, I'm not plagarising. lol)

* * *

Jeff looked at his watch again as he approached the small café Rhiannon worked in. One thirty exactly, he grinned to himself, amazed that for the first time in his life he was on time for something. Matt would be proud...well he would be, if they were actually speaking to one another. His smile faltered as he remembered the real reason he was here.  
  
Coming to a halt in front of the cafe, he saw Rhiannon taking a seat by the window. He passed his eyes over her again, considering that she was quite pretty when her expression was unguarded. Dark mahogany hair contrasted with her creamy skin, pointed features made her look delicate, almost pixie- like, but it was her large, emerald green eyes that had gotten to him. They were full of such haunted sadness and yearning, so different from Imogen's sparking hazel eyes that made him feel like he didn't have a care in the world. He saw Rhiannon take a sip of coffee and their eyes met, snapping Jeff back to reality and to his surprise, a wry smile passed over her face. He returned the smile shyly and came through the door. "You made it. Truly, wonders never cease." She feigned amazement and Jeff had to laugh as she checked her watch.  
  
"Truly." He mimicked the tiny girl's Irish accent pitifully. She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to take a seat.  
  
"C'mon boy. Let's just get this thing over with, shall we?" Jeff noticed that Rhiannon was looking around discreetly for something.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked, slightly concerned that she didn't want to be seen with him. She looked startled for a moment, then shook her head.  
  
"Nothing. I just don't want my manager, Megan, eavesdropping. She has a thing about sticking her nose in other people's business."  
  
"Which is why I'm here." Kylie told them with a grin as she approached the table and Rhiannon gave a small laugh.  
  
"My hero." She stated wryly and Kylie rolled her eyes, before serving Jeff a quick wink.  
  
"You should be careful with this one, hun. Her sense of humour often leaves something to be desired." She ignored the sharp look Rhiannon served her and kept her concentration on Jeff, who was trying not to laugh. "So, what can I get for you?"  
  
After Kylie left them, Rhiannon sipped her water and looked back up at her new companion, who seemed a bit nervous. With a sigh, she decided to put him out of his misery and find out exactly what he wanted.  
  
"You know, Jeff. I really thought that once my sister spread her wings and went her own way, I'd stop getting these admirers of hers coming to see me for advice on how to get her to go out with them." She said mildly and Jeff's head snapped up to view Rhiannon incredulously.  
  
"What? That's not what I'm here for." He spluttered defensively and Rhiannon looked him over, hiding her amusement.  
  
"Oh? Sorry, my mistake. Well then, what are you here for?" She asked in the same mild tone of voice and Jeff took a few moments to decide how to answer.  
  
"Imogen is dating my brother Matt. I'm worried about him...well, I'm worried about both of them, to be honest. They're just not right for each other."  
  
"And?" Rhiannon wasn't surprised, Imogen rarely dated anyone reliable.  
  
"And? What do you mean 'And'? They're complete opposites, Rhiannon. They just don't...fit." He finished lamely with a shrug and Rhiannon took another long sip of water, as she considered her next question.  
  
"Let me get this right Jeff. My sister, the ultimate party girl, is seeing someone who is settled, responsible and has a good work ethic? Because, honestly, that would be her opposite." She looked deeply into Jeff's eyes as he thought about what she'd said. He eventually conceded that she was right with a small nod and Rhiannon's heart leapt with relief.  
  
"Hallelujah! There is a God after all." She laughed, raising her arms triumphantly into the air. Jeff gave her an injured look and Rhiannon sighed. "Look, I'm sorry Jeff, but Imogen is thirty years old. She also has a twelve, nearly thirteen-year-old daughter to think about. It's about time she started doing the responsible thing instead of acting first and thinking later."  
  
"She and Matt just aren't right for each other, I'm telling you, you have to see them together to understand. He's changed since they've gotten together." He replied, crossing his arms stubbornly and Rhiannon became slightly concerned.  
  
"Changed? How do you mean?"  
  
"Well, I don't know, he's just not himself. I never see him anymore for one thing, and Dad hasn't heard from him for a couple of weeks, which is just not normal. And whenever I do see him, things are strained, he doesn't trust me around Imogen. He knew, before he asked her out, that I had feelings for her. After they got together I backed off and I told Matt that I would. But now he holds my feelings against me." Jeff sighed, unable to look at Rhiannon for fear of her reaction. When she didn't speak for a few moments, his anxiety got the better of him and he glanced up to see that her expression had gone blank.  
  
"Ahem." Kylie placed Jeff's order in front of him and faced her friend. "I think you're scaring the poor boy here a bit." Rhiannon looked up at Kylie and the mask slipped off her face as she smiled, somewhat forcefully and Jeff rested his chin on his hand so as to observe Rhiannon more intently as she looked back to him.  
  
"I'm sorry Jeff. I was just thinking about...well, you know." Kylie gave Rhian a quizzical look, before moving off to continue her work. "Jeff, the only thing I can really think to tell you would be to give them both some time and space...and maybe get yourself a girlfriend to put your brother's mind to rest."  
  
"Is that it?" He asked, exasperated with her advice, and she raised an eyebrow at his tone. "Can't you at least speak to Imogen for me..."  
  
"And tell her what, exactly?" Rhiannon snapped and Jeff threw up his hands in frustration.  
  
"I don't know, you could find out why, whenever Matt's not around, she throws herself at me? Or maybe if you meet Matt, you could ask him why he hates me so much all of a sudden." Rhiannon's heart went out to Jeff as he slumped in his seat and stared despondently into his coffee.  
  
"Believe me when I tell you that I would love to help you, Jeff, but I'm the last person Imogen would listen to. Although, maybe _you_ could listen to me and take my advice. I have seen her do shit like this before, so many times, and it tears me to pieces. God, do you have any idea how many of her ex-boyfriends have come to me for counseling after their relationship has fallen through? Too many to count!" Rhiannon took a deep breath to calm down as Jeff was looking quite stricken at this point.

"If saving your relationship with Matt is your top priority, you need to do yourself a favour and stay the hell away from Imogen. She'll bring you both nothing but trouble and heartache. Please, don't let yourself be hurt like all the others." She stood, picking up her bag abruptly and Jeff raised his eyes to see Rhiannon looking like she was about to cry.  
  
"I'm really sorry Rhiannon. I didn't realise." He sighed and she shook her head, attempting to smile.  
  
"No, I know. And I'm sorry too. But maybe you can take comfort in the fact that I don't think she realises that she manipulates people so much. Everything's always come so easy to Imogen, she expects to always get what she wants. Besides, she needs people to like her and that's probably why she seems to come on so strong to you, when in fact she thinks she's only being friendly, if that makes sense. Just don't take her affection the wrong way, keep your distance and I'm sure everything will come good." She told him supportively and he nodded in understanding, looking out the window contemplatively as Rhiannon got back to work.


	4. Friendship

"So, she's doing it again." Kylie shook her head as Rhiannon grabbed a couple of drinks out of the fridge and passed one to her friend, who was shaking her head in disgust.  
  
"The thing is, I'm beginning to wonder whether she really does know what she's doing to these poor guys." Rhian whispered in reply, making sure that Kiara couldn't hear her.  
  
As it was Friday night, Kylie had come over to watch some movies. She and Rhian were currently in the kitchen discussing Jeff Hardy's impromptu visit to their work that morning and Kiara was in the den watching a tape of Smackdown! hoping to get a glimpse of her mother before they settled down to watch a movie.  
  
"Of course she does, Rhiannon. God, she's always known what she's doing. You just haven't wanted to see it because she's your sister." Kylie replied with contempt and Rhiannon rolled her eyes, knowing how much Kylie disliked her sister. "So what are you going to do?" She asked, ignoring the silent rebuke and Rhian just shrugged her shoulders helplessly.  
  
"I don't know. My head's telling me to stay out of it..." Rhiannon sighed and Kylie gave her friend a knowing look.  
  
"I can sense a 'but' coming on Rhian. What are you thinking?" After a few moments thought, Rhiannon just shook her head.  
  
"I don't know, I guess I feel a bit sorry for Jeff is all." Rhiannon sighed sadly. "I just hope his relationship with his brother doesn't suffer too much. He was so sad though. And he was a bit of a sweetie, once he got over his cockiness, I suppose." She admitted and Kylie chuckled.  
  
"And he was kinda cute, for all his weirdness." They both grinned as Kiara came barreling into the kitchen.  
  
"Rhian, Kylie, come and watch Mom on the Wrestling." Rhiannon gave Kylie a resigned look and they moved into the den to watch Smackdown!  
  
"She's wrestling with Matt Hardy tonight. I'd like to meet him, but I'd love to meet Jeff more." Kiara sighed, resting her chin on the back of her hands. Rhiannon and Kylie exchanged looks as they both bit back laughs, but Rhiannon placed a finger to her lips, warning Ky not to say anything.  
  
Rhiannon leaned back as she watched her elder sister walking down the ramp accompanied by a darker, stockier version of the man who'd come to see her today.  
  
"Well, I can certainly see why Imogen enjoys her job so much." Kylie remarked as the doorbell rang. Rhiannon didn't reply as she rose to see who was visiting at nine-thirty at night. Opening the door, she was faced with a sheepish looking Jeff Hardy. Her amusement was tainted by a slight annoyance and she decided to toy with him a little.  
  
"You are aware that stalking is a crime?" She inquired, blocking the door so that Jeff couldn't get in. An injured looked crossed his face and she had to hide the smile which tugged at the corners of her mouth. Jeff noticed this and decided to play along.  
  
"I'm not stalking, I just need to talk. Please Rhiannon, just let me in. I'm cold and hungry and depressed." He pleaded and Kylie called out from her position in the den.  
  
"Will you just let the boy in and hurry up so I can watch this damn movie." Rhiannon rolled her eyes and took a step backward to let Jeff through.  
  
"Thank you." He smiled and followed her to the den. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed what they were watching. "Well, that's a surprise. I wouldn't have picked you for a wrestling fan."  
  
"Appearances can be deceiving." She watched Imogen on the television for a moment before deciding to put the girls out of their misery. "Kiara, Kylie, this is Jeff. Jeff, this is my friend Kylie, you remember her from the café? And my niece, Imogen's daughter, Kiara."  
  
"Nice to meet you both." He smiled widely at Kiara, who had near fallen off the chair and was observing Jeff open-mouthed.  
  
"You too sugar. Now, why don't you tell us what you're doing here?" Kylie smiled sweetly and Jeff had to laugh.  
  
"Actually, I need to speak to Rhiannon alone." He admitted, and Kylie smirked as she raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Come on then. Why don't you two start the movie without me." Rhiannon shot Kylie a warning look as she took Jeff out to the back porch. She curled up on the futon that overlooked the large, overgrown backyard and motioned for Jeff to take a seat next to her. "So, what's up Jeff?"  
  
"I wanted to apologise again for today. I know I probably shouldn't have come to you complaining about my problems and I just wanted to thank you for listening and for your advice." Rhiannon leaned her head back against the back of the couch as she regarded him with a wary expression.  
  
"But?"  
  
"Well, it's not really a "but". I just don't know if my brother and I are ever going to have the same relationship that we had before and there's no one I can talk to about it. Since my brother and I have pretty much the same circle of friends, you're the only person I've told about all this. Although, Amy's guessed that something's not quite right."  
  
"But you still feel guilty about bringing this to me, huh?"  
  
"Yeah..." He sighed, looking out at the night sky, which was clouding over fast, signaling that a storm was imminent. "But I felt like I was going crazy! I didn't know what else to do, I need my brother, Rhiannon and I can feel that I'm losing him." Rhiannon shook her head as she took his hand, almost moved to tears by his admission.  
  
"No, Jeff. You won't. If you still want my help, I'll do my best help you make things right. But I can't promise anything." She warned and Jeff laughed bitterly.  
  
"Rhian, you were right the first time. There's no way that you'd be able to do anything. My brother's so stubborn, he won't listen to anyone else. And I'm sure that Imogen won't have any answers for my questions, either. I appreciate the support, though."  
  
They sat silently, hand in hand for a few moments, before Rhiannon suddenly stood up, pulling Jeff to his feet too.  
  
"Well, if I can't help you fix things, at least let me help you take your mind off them for a while." She smiled cheekily and he raised his eyebrows, wondering what she had in mind. "I don't know about you, but I need another drink if I'm going to get through all these chick flicks tonight. Would you like to join us?" She asked warmly and Jeff chuckled slightly.  
  
"Yeah, I'd love to." 


	5. Sisters

Thanks again for the reviews, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story! :o)  
  
Wipeout18 - In answer to your question, I chose the name Rhiannon because I've always loved the name and when I created this character, the name just seemed to fit. (BTW, you may or may not know that Rhiannon, in Celtic mythology, is a War Goddess...just something you might want to remember down the line. LOL)  
  
The name Imogen was just something that sprang to mind when I was writing the character of Rhiannon's sister. I needed something I thought was pretty and that fitted the character that everyone, except Rhiannon and a couple of others, sees as perfect. It seemed to fit pretty well when I used it. I originally came up with Isabelle, but as much as I like the name, it just didn't work for me.  
  
And lastly, Rhian is pronounced "Ree-ann"  
  
Thanks for the interest!

* * *

"3 chick flicks, I think that's my record." Jeff said with a yawn as the last movie finished up. Rhiannon flicked her dark hair back as she stretched out on the couch.  
  
"It's definitely mine, and I think I want it to stay that way." Kylie burst out laughing at Rhiannon's obvious disdain of her movie selections. She nodded to the beanbag where Kiara had been peacefully snoozing for the past couple of hours. "Well, at least Kiara's sleep doesn't seem to have been disturbed by my choices."  
  
"I suppose you have a point. I should probably get her to bed now anyway." Rhian agreed and moved to wake her niece.  
  
"She should have been in bed hours ago."  
  
Rhiannon didn't have to look up to know that Imogen had finally arrived home. What did surprise her, though, was seeing her sister's new boyfriend, Matt Hardy, standing in the doorway as well. They were both looking slightly confused by the scene before them.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Matt asked his brother and Rhiannon's heart sank at his cold tone. Since Jeff just delivered a laid-back shrug of his shoulders in answer, Rhiannon decided to explain.  
  
"He came into the café I work at this afternoon. We got to talking and realised our connection with Imogen, so I invited him over for a video night." Matt looked at Rhiannon as though he'd only just realised she was there. His chocolate brown eyes looked her over appraisingly and he smiled lazily at her.  
  
"Well, you must be Rhiannon." Rhian, feeling her annoyance surging once again, crossed her arms and stared at Matt coolly.  
  
"Yes. I don't believe that Imogen's mentioned you though. This your brother?" She asked Jeff, who bit back a laugh and nodded.  
  
"And on that note, I think I'm going to call it a night." Kylie got up from her seat and walked to the door, glaring at Imogen on her way out. "It was really nice to meet you Jeff. Rhian, give me a call tomorrow, we can go out for dinner."  
  
"Yes dear." Rhiannon smiled up at her sister, who was sneering at the door Kylie had just gone through. "Well, what brings you home so early, sister mine?" She queried sarcastically and Imogen glared at Rhiannon, not liking her tone.  
  
"We got some time off so I wanted to come home and in case you hadn't noticed, I do have a daughter living here."  
  
Rhiannon felt her blood beginning to boil, and looked at Jeff, who recoiled slightly under her malevolent gaze. "You're staying here tonight, right?" Jeff just nodded blankly, they hadn't discussed this at all during the course of the night, but figured that she asked the question for a reason, so he might as well say yes.  
  
"Good, you can have my bed. With the way I'm feeling, I don't think I could stand to stay. I'm going to Kylie's." She got up and brushed past her sister to go out the door.  
  
"What the hell is your problem, Rhian?" Imogen hissed, grabbing her sister's arm to prevent her from leaving, prompting Rhiannon's temper to explode. She turned on her sister, her eyes spitting emerald fire, and wrenched her arm from Imogen's grasp.  
  
"Well, I just figured that you'd want some quality time with your daughter. She's grown up a lot in the past few months, I'm surprised that you even recognise her."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Imogen asked, stepping backwards warily; she'd only seen her sister look this angry once before and she didn't want things to turn out the way they had then. Rhiannon just shook her head and with a humorless laugh, picked up her keys from the telephone table.  
  
"I'm sure you're intelligent enough to figure it out. Let me know when you're leaving again. I'll come back to pick up the pieces." She spat bitterly and walked out of the door, slamming it behind her.


	6. Realisation

Imogen stood staring at the door in shock for a few moments. Her face burned with the humiliation of being reprimanded in front of her boyfriend. "I don't suppose you know what brought that little display on, do you?" She asked Jeff angrily and he just raised an eyebrow, not much liking what he'd heard and seen of Imogen in the past twelve hours. He pushed down his annoyance and forced himself to speak to her civilly.  
  
"I only met your sister this morning. She doesn't seem like the type to trust very easily. Why would she confide in me so soon?" He asked innocently while Imogen just rolled her eyes in disbelief before turning to her daughter, whom she thought had been sleeping. She jumped in surprise to see that her child was staring at her; eyes full of hurt accusation.  
  
"Where have you been, Mama?" Kiara asked quietly, hardly trusting herself not to cry. Imogen walked over to her and took the girl in her arms.  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't come home before now, baby, you know I was so busy with all the signings and the shows, but I missed you so much. I thought about you every day." Kiara pushed her Mother away as the fear and hurt she'd been feeling for so long overwhelmed her.  
  
"But you could never be bothered to call, or even just send me a quick e- mail to see how I was doing." She asked quietly, trying to quell the tears that filled her eyes, and jumped up off the beanbag walking towards the stairs that led to the bedrooms.  
  
"What on earth are you talking about, Kiara? I did call, you know I did." Imogen snapped and Kiara spun around, amber eyes fiery with anger.  
  
"Yeah, a whole twice in two months! You should be so proud of yourself." She spat and started up the stairs, Imogen started after her, ready to strike out.  
  
"Don't you dare speak to me like that, young lady! I'm your Mother, goddamn it, treat me with respect!" She screamed and Kiara turned back, shaking with the intensity of the rage she felt.  
  
"Why should I? You don't deserve it." She roared and Imogen stopped dead in shock. Her hazel eyes narrowed as the impact of what her daughter was saying hit her like a tidal wave.  
  
"You ungrateful little bitch." She said quietly, her voice shaking with intensity of what she was feeling, and Kiara flinched in shock. "After everything I've done for you. Raising you on my own since I was seventeen, putting a roof over your head, feeding and clothing you, and now," Her voice started to rise until she was screaming again. "Now, you throw it all back in my face! How fucking dare you?" Kiara, although frightened, forced herself to stand tall and not back away. Imogen took a few deep breaths to try and calm down. "What happened to you, Kiara?" She asked after some time, hurt and confusion echoed in her voice. "I didn't raise you to act like a spoiled brat. What has your Aunt been filling your head with, child?" Disappointment filled Kiara and she sighed, feeling deflated.  
  
"Rhian has said nothing bad about you to me, EVER. She's too good a person to do that. I figured it all out myself." She told her mother, quietly, but with a forceful determination that Imogen had never before heard in her daughter's voice.  
  
"What? What have you figured out Kiara?" She asked impatiently, and Kiara smiled bitterly, recognising the expression on her face. It was one of total and utter boredom, which never failed to make Kiara feel like she was unimportant in her mother's scheme of things. The thing that hurt the most was that she knew it was true.  
  
"That you don't want me around. You've always paid more attention to your boyfriends or work or training than you ever have to me." Imogen's eyes filled with sudden defensive tears and she shook her head, ready to dispute Kiara's claim, but her daughter continued before she had the chance. "You know, my "Aunt" has been more of a Mother to me in the past few years than you have ever been throughout my entire life! She loves me no matter what I do or say and at least Rhian will spend time with me without making me feel like I'm intruding on her. God, Mother, I didn't ask to be born. It's not my fault that you got stuck with me, so stop making me feel like it is."

Imogen was so taken aback by what Kiara had said that she didn't know what to say. She wanted to deny it, to say something to comfort her daughter, but she just couldn't find the words. When Kiara realised that Imogen had no comeback, her eyes once again filled with tears and she walked the rest of the way up the stairs.

"And just so you know," She turned back to face her Mother one last time before she went to bed. "I'm not a child anymore. I'm a teenager now; a young adult. But I can understand how that could have escaped your attention, what, with you never being around and all." And with that, Kiara walked into her bedroom and locked the door behind her.


	7. Dawn

Thanks again for the reveiws, I'm really glad you're enjoying my story. I think what I'll be doing is trying to update once or twice a weekend, since it's hard for me to access the internet at home on a weekday and work won't let me visit this website anymore. pouts lol

Here's chapter 7 anyway, hope y'all like! :)

* * *

Kiara rose at the crack of dawn the next morning, as per usual, and decided to go for a walk. The memories of the night before still plagued her and she needed to clear her head before she got to studying for the history test she had next week. As she walked into the bathroom to have a quick shower, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her eyes were still puffy and bloodshot from crying herself to sleep and the dark circles under them were accentuated by her deathly pale skin. "Damn Irish blood." She muttered, wishing that she could tan like all the other girls her age. Her best friend, Tabitha, had gorgeous golden brown skin and had never looked washed out like Kiara sometimes did. After the shower, she threw her favourite jeans and sweater on and quietly made her way down the stairs.

To her surprise, Jeff was still there. He lay sprawled out across the couch looking like he was about to fall right off it. She felt a bit nervous, having her idol staying at her house, even though he was sweet and really down to earth. Jeff stirred slightly, flicking some of his rainbow coloured hair out of his face, as Kiara watched him. Panicking, she quickly moved off into the kitchen to pour herself some juice so that he wouldn't catch her staring. As she came back out, she glanced at Jeff again and almost dropped her glass in shock as she saw that he was awake.  
  
"Morning sunshine." He grinned at her, tiredly. "How you feelin'?" Jeff asked as he dragged himself up into a sitting position. Kiara just shrugged and looked down at her feet. Her bloodshot eyes gave away the fact that she had been crying for most of the night and his heart went out in sympathy to her.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to see what happened last night. You must think I'm a horrible person, speaking to my Mom the way I did." She said quietly and Jeff shook his head with an understanding smile.  
  
"No way. It's hard enough being a teenager with the usual insecurities, let alone to be insecure about a parent's love." He told her and she looked up at him thoughtfully. "It may not seem that way to you, but your Mom does love you very much. She talks about you all the time at work." Jeff paused a moment, seeing Kiara roll her eyes. "Kiara, I don't know the full story of what's happening here, and it's really none of my business, but if you do want to talk or just hang out, let me know. I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time together now, since your Mom is dating my brother." Kiara half-smiled and sat down next to him.  
  
"I guess that would be okay. I mean, I'd love to hang out with you..." She trailed off, not wanting to upset Jeff. He nudged her with his elbow and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why do I get the feeling that there is a 'but' coming. C'mon, spit it out, what's wrong?"  
  
Since her outpouring the night before, Kiara really felt like she needed someone to work through this whole mess with her. She found herself suddenly missing Rhiannon, but eventually figured that Jeff was the next best person to talk to. After a moment's hesitation, she looked down at the floor and decided to be completely honest with him. "From what I saw of Matt last night, I really don't think I want my Mom dating him. He seems nice and all, but he's just not...well, I wouldn't want him as a Dad. Sorry, I know he's your brother and all..." She looked up at Jeff fearfully and was surprised to see him smiling wryly.  
  
"Well, my brother has changed a lot in the past few months, since he began dating Imogen. I love Matt, he's a great person, but I agree, I don't think he's right for your Mom." He frowned slightly, thinking back over just how much things had changed since Imogen had come on the scene. Then, remembering who he was talking to, he hurriedly added, "Just don't tell her that, okay?" Kiara smiled knowingly, realising that they had both said too much.  
  
"As long as you don't tell Matt what I told you." Looking at the time, she stood and stretched, realising that if she was going to be gone before her Mother was up, she had to leave now. "Hey, I was gonna go for a walk. Wanna come with?" Jeff shrugged, figuring he'd better be out of the place by the time Matt got up.  
  
"Sure, just let me just clean myself up and I'll be right with you. How about we find somewhere to go for breakfast? I could do with some bacon and eggs." He stood to grab his coat and Kiara raised her eyebrows with a cheeky grin.  
  
"You paying?" Jeff couldn't help but laugh; this was a girl after his own heart.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"In that case how could I possibly refuse?"


	8. Payback

"Do you think I was too hard on her?"  
  
Kylie looked up from the paper she was reading to observe Rhiannon with a raised eyebrow. She had been stirring her coffee ceaselessly, a thoughtful expression on her face, for the past ten minutes. It was the first time she had really spoken since the night before when she had turned up on Kylie's front doorstep looking like a drowned kitten. Rather than driving, Rhiannon had walked there from her house in a downpour, apparently to give herself time to think. After she had told her friend what had transpired between herself and Imogen, she had fallen into a thoughtful silence and Kylie had left her to it, figuring that she needed to sort things through on her own. Now it was morning and they sat outside at the local diner waiting for their breakfast to be served.  
  
"Hun, you know she needed to hear it. Okay, maybe you were a bit blunt, but it's probably the only way she is going to realise how much her daughter is being damaged by her absence. I just don't think Kiara is ready to tell her how she feels yet."  
  
"I don't know about that, Ky." Rhian countered thoughtfully, considering the change that had come over the young girl of late. "She seems to be more outspoken where her Mother is concerned now. I hope she didn't hear what I had to say last night though. I just got so angry, I couldn't control myself." She shrugged, finally taking a long sip of her coffee.  
  
"It's okay Rhian, you didn't upset me." Rhiannon almost spat out the hot liquid as she turned to see Kiara and Jeff standing behind her. "I'm glad you said what you did. It helped me to tell her how I felt. She didn't really like it very much though." Kiara admitted with a shrug and while Kylie nearly dropped her coffee, Rhiannon didn't falter as she disputed the girl's theory.  
  
"Either way, I shouldn't have let you hear me talk to your Mother that way. You shouldn't ever be stuck in the middle of our problems." Rhiannon told Kiara firmly, before standing and giving her niece a fierce hug.  
  
"They're my problems too, Rhian." Kiara retorted, taking comfort in the embrace. "And besides, Kylie is right, Mom needed to hear it." Rhiannon pulled back and looked the girl in the eyes. They were fiery and full of anger.  
  
"Speaking of which, after you order, why don't you both sit down and tell us what happened after I left?"  
  
"We've ordered already. Jeff's paying, isn't that right?" Kiara asked him cheekily as she sat down next to her Aunt.  
  
"Apparently." He replied dryly and Rhiannon shook her head.  
  
"Don't worry about it Jeff, I'll pay."  
  
"Nah, I promised Kiara I'd get it this time. You can shout the next one." He grinned and sat next to Kylie, giving her an appraising glance.  
  
"How very generous of you." Kylie rolled her eyes and set down her mug, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache coming on. Jeff looked slightly injured, but said nothing as Kiara began to relate what had happened the previous night. By the time she was finished, their breakfast had arrived, but Rhiannon suddenly found herself feeling so sick that she couldn't take a bite.  
  
"I'm so sorry it came to this, Kiara. I shouldn't have left last night, I should have stayed to take care of you." She admitted, full of remorse and Kiara took her Aunt's hand.  
  
"I understand why you left. I actually appreciate it. It gave me a chance to talk to Imogen without her turning it all back onto you. Well, she did try, but since you weren't there, she couldn't ignore me to scream at you instead." Kiara grinned, pretending the night's occurrences hadn't bothered her in the slightest, but Rhiannon knew better.  
  
"Kiara, I understand that you're growing up now, but you still shouldn't be put in this position. You've had a hard enough time growing up without a father, you don't need me and your Mother putting you in the middle of our disputes as well."  
  
"Well, it's a bit late for that, don't you think?" Rhiannon closed her eyes as she heard her sister pose the question from behind her. Kiara spun around to see her Mother standing next to Matt with her arms crossed and a superior look upon her face. Imogen never wore that look unless she was planning something. Kiara felt the sense of security she had left shatter into a million pieces as she suspected what was to come.  
  
"What are you talking about Imogen?" Rhian, who had regained her sensibilities, demanded, as she looked her sister square in the eye. Imogen just smirked and pulled up a chair next to Kiara.  
  
"Well, I realised that you were right. I have been neglecting my child. I figure that the only way to really redeem myself in both your eyes, would be to organise a way for Kiara and I to spend some...quality, time together." She served her sister a sickly sweet smile as Rhian went pale, realising the implications of what Imogen had just said.  
  
"And?" She asked, brusquely, after waiting a few moments for Imogen to drop the bombshell. But her sister just took a leisurely deep breath and stared up to the sky for a few minutes, trying to make this moment last as long as possible.  
  
"Well, the only way that I can really do that...is to take Kiara with me on tour."


	9. Breakdown

Rhiannon sat alone in Kiara's bedroom. It had been two long weeks since they'd left, and the pain wasn't going away. As Rhiannon looked out of the window over the countryside, her thoughts turned again to the last day she had seen her niece.

"_But I don't want to go, Rhiannon." Kiara sobbed into her pillow as her aunt soothingly stroked her hair. "I'll miss you and Kylie, and my friends. I won't have anyone."_

"_Oh sweetie, you'll have your mum, and Matt seems like a nice guy. I'm sure they'll both take very good care of you. And you can't be the only child on tour with the company, you'll make new friends in no time." She forced herself to say, trying to comfort her niece, even though she felt as though her heart was being torn in two._

"_I don't want new friends. I want to stay here with you." She cried, curling up into an even tighter ball as her sobs threatened to overwhelm her. "And what about school? I don't want to be moved around everywhere again. It took me ages to catch up when we came back here."_

"_Your mother has arranged a tutor for you. I'm sure you'll like him."_

"_I don't care. I don't want to like him, Rhian." She spat, sitting up and staring at her aunt with an expression of hurt accusation in her eyes. "Why are you saying all of these things? Do you want me to go?" Rhiannon shook her head helplessly, the tears she had been fighting suddenly welling in her eyes._

"_Of course not. It's the last thing I want, but there's nothing I can do. Your mother has made up her mind. Anyway, it probably won't be as bad as you think. Just think of all the things that you'll get to see and do! It'll be an amazing experience Kiara."_

"_But I just want to be a normal kid with a normal life. I want to stay here at home with you. Please don't let her take me away..." Rhiannon wrapped her arms around Kiara and held her tightly, her own body shaking with silent sobs as she tried to comfort the scared little girl._

"_Oh honey, I've tried to talk her out of it, I have! But she believes that this is the best thing for both of you." She took a few deep shuddering breaths to settle herself down before she pulled away to look Kiara in the eye. "But, I promise you Kiara, this will always be your home. You're always welcome to come back whenever you can. And even though you may be miles away from here, but I'm always just a phone call away if you need me. Alright?" Kiara nodded miserably before giving her aunt another hug. "I love you Kiara. Never forget that."_

"_I love you too, Rhian. I'll call you every day, I promise."_

_A shadow fell over the bed and they looked up to Imogen standing in the doorway, her expression unreadable._

"_Come on, Kiara. It's time to go." She said gently, and Rhiannon could have sworn that as Imogen turned away, she saw a tear roll down her cheek... _

Rhiannon's reminiscing was cut short by the sound of the phone ringing. She wiped away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks and rested her head against the windowsill, determined to ignore it. In the two weeks that had passed, the only person who had phoned her was Kylie. Rhiannon was sure that Imogen was preventing Kiara from calling her, and whenever Rhiannon rang her sister's phone, Matt had informed her that both her sister and niece were busy and that they would call her back. They never did.

She pushed herself up and wandered into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. As she looked into the mirror, Rhiannon considered what a sorry sight she was. Her skin was pale and blotchy from the almost constant crying and lack of sleep. Her green eyes were so dark and bloodshot she almost didn't recognise them.

_What am I becoming?_ She wondered as she ran a thin hand over her face and leaned over the sink, unable to look at her reflection any longer. _I can't just sit around feeling sorry for myself. But, how the hell do I take control back from that bitch? She's been doing this to me all my life!_

The answer came to her out of the blue and she was surprised she hadn't thought of it before. There was nothing holding her back now, in fact, it was the perfect solution. A thin smile crossed over her face as she bolted to the computer to check how much money she had stored in her savings account over the years. With a laugh she realised that she had more than enough to get started.

_But first_, she considered her reflection in the mirror above the telephone table as she grabbed her car keys, _it's time for a change..._


	10. Helplessness

Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've been pretty sick lately so it's taken a while for me to get the energy up to do anything. I hope you're still enjoying this.

Now, as for a couple of chapters after this one, some of it might seem a bit unrealistic, but I can do that since this is fan fiction. LOL Hope it doesn't piss you off too much. ;o)

But, if I've made any mistakes or it does annoy you too much, just let me know so I can figure out where exactly I'm going wrong. Thanks!

* * *

Kylie swore in frustration as, for the umpteenth time in just over a month, Rhiannon's phone went to the answering machine.

"Goddamn it woman! Will you just pick up the phone? You can't lock yourself away forever; you need to get on with things. If you don't return this call within five minutes, I swear to god I am going to come around and kick your door down myself." She slammed the phone down with a growl and turned to look at Jeff, who was sitting at the kitchen counter with a wide-eyed expression on his face.

"What?" Kylie snapped as she poured herself a fresh cup of coffee.

"Nuthin'. I just don't know if she'll respond well to your yelling. I know I'd be too scared to call back." He replied with a grin and Kylie hit him on the shoulder,

"Well, she hasn't responded to anything at all lately. I haven't seen her since the day she quit her job and the girl they've replaced her with is impossible! She's a fucking miniature Megan. I don't think I can put up with it for much longer." Kylie moaned and Jeff gave her a confused look.

"Is that the only reason you want to talk to her? To try and get her to go back to work?"

"Of course not." She retorted sharply and Jeff raised an eyebrow. "I'm worried about her. She'll make herself sick if she keeps moping around."

"But, if you haven't seen or heard from her, how do you know she is moping around? We both know she hated that job. She could have just decided that this was the time to do it, considering she doesn't have a child to support anymore." He shrugged and Kylie shook her head knowingly.

"That's just not what she's like. She's into routine, which is the real reason why she stayed at the job for so long. She's afraid of taking risks." Jeff wasn't surprised to hear this but was still doubtful that Rhiannon would waste her time moping for a whole month.

"Why? What happened to her?" Kylie shrugged, having wondered the same thing herself many times.

"God, I don't know. When I first met Rhiannon, she was a completely different person. Outgoing, proud, idealistic and a dreamer...and a complete bitch! Well, at least until you got to know her. About seven years ago, she decided to travel for a while. She came back a few times but always left again not long after. Those times she seemed fine, but just over three years ago she came back from wherever she'd been a completely changed person. She just seemed to have lost her spark. She never left again after that and she's never told me what happened during her travels." Kylie sighed and took a tiny sip of her coffee while Jeff thought about what she'd said and was intrigued.

"What about her life back in Ireland? What made her leave there?"

"To be honest, in all the years I've known Rhiannon she's never really spoken about her life in Ireland. I asked her about it, you know the usual "what was it like back there?" questions, but all she said was "damp, cold and full of drunks." I could never get anything else out of her about it."

"Well, that seems to suggest that things weren't the best for her back there. Do you know why she came to this particular part of the world? I mean, a small town in North Carolina usually isn't somewhere most travelers would automatically think of when they want to move to the States." Kylie just smiled at him in amusement.

"You may have noticed that Rhiannon isn't like most foreigners. But, the real reason she moved here was because her Aunt Katherine owned the house she now lives in. When Rhian was eighteen Kath got really sick with cancer, so she decided to come out and take care of her, since Kath's husband had passed away the year before. Nobody really expected Kath to die, especially not Rhiannon, since she'd gone into remission from the same type of cancer twice before. But, unfortunately, a year to the day after she was re-diagnosed, Kath did pass away. She left all her belongings to Rhiannon, as a thank you for looking after her, but all Rhian wanted was the house. It made her feel closer to her Aunt. Anyway, Imogen came out from Ireland with Kiara, who was about three years old, not long after the funeral. Although Rhiannon was going to give everything but the house to charity, Imogen managed to guilt Rhian into giving her most of the money that Kath had left, saying that she needed it to take care of Kiara."

"Why was Rhian going to give it all to charity in the first place?" Jeff seemed confused and Kylie rolled her eyes.

"When Katherine had fallen ill again, none of the family even bothered to phone or send a letter to ask how she was doing. Kath firmly told Rhian not to even bother calling them to let them know how she was recovering since they obviously didn't care. It broke Rhiannon's heart when Katherine passed away. She loved her like a mother. Anyway, when Imogen turned up on her doorstep with her young daughter, Rhian helped her out and let her stay at the house free of charge. And that's where Imogen and Kiara stayed until they followed Rhiannon to wherever she was about five or six years ago, and when Imogen got into the WWE, she left Kiara here with Rhian to look after her." Kylie shrugged with a sigh. "I don't know exactly why Imogen and Rhiannon's relationship has always been so strained. From the outside you'd think it had something to do with Imogen's disinterest in Katherine or the fact that they're complete opposites. But I've known them both for nearly ten years and I know for a fact that it runs deeper than that, but neither of them will talk about why." Jeff processed this information silently while Kylie grabbed her keys. He snapped out of his contemplation as he realised that she was heading to the front door.

"Where are you going now? You've hardly even touched your coffee."

"Where do you think?" She asked, shrugging on her jacket. "I'm going to see Rhian. I need to know what's going on."

"Don't you think she might just want to be alone?" He got up off the stool and followed her out the door.

"Don't you think she'd just tell me if she wanted to be alone?" Kylie retorted, opening her car door and giving Jeff a pointed stare. "She's ignoring my calls for a reason, and I want to know what it is. You coming?" He shrugged off a sudden urge of irrational annoyance and just nodded his head, hopping in the passenger side.

"Promise me you won't be too hard on her. She's probably very fragile right now, I don't want her pushed over the edge." He told her, more serious than Kylie had ever seen him, and she paused a moment to look into his eyes.

"Alright, I promise." She eventually agreed, grudgingly. "But if she is just moping, she's going to be in a hella lot of trouble."


	11. Resurrection

"Rhian! Open up, I know you're in there." Kylie yelled as she banged for the fifth time on the solid timber door.

"Are you really sure about that?" Jeff mumbled, standing a few paces back, covering his eyes with his hands. Kylie turned and served him a withering glare before turning to knock again. As her hand hit the door it finally swung open, revealing a blonde, stocky man looking none too impressed.

"Kylie, I presume?" He stated dryly, his sharp teeth exposed as he spoke and Jeff nearly jumped out of his skin as he peeked through his fingers and recognised the man who stood before him.

"David? What the hell are you doing here?" He asked in shock, stepping forward in stunned disbelief.

"I could ask you the same thing, Rainbow." He retorted, smothering a grin at Jeff's expression. Kylie looked between the two men, a confused look on her face.

"We're friends of Rhian's. Kylie here is worried about her." He looked to the young woman, who was none the wiser as to the identity of this vampire/man. "Ky, this is David Heath, also known as Gangrel. We used to wrestle together in the WWF. Grel, this is Kylie, Rhiannon's best friend."

"Nice to finally meet you. But I'm afraid that Rhiannon doesn't want any visitors at the moment." He told them firmly and the scowl returned to Kylie's face.

"I'm sorry, but I don't care how long I have to stay out here, I'm not leaving until I see her." She replied stubbornly and an amused look flitted across David's face before he turned stern again.

"Didn't you hear me the first time, lady? It's not going to happen." He replied firmly before turning back to Jeff. "Jesus, how'd you get involved with this little spitfire?" Kylie gave them both a look of pure venom before stomping to the end of the verandah for some alone time.

"She's just worried about Rhiannon, David. You can't blame her, she hasn't returned one of Ky's calls for a month now. Please, just let us see her for a few minutes." David sighed and turned to look over his shoulder into the house.

"Alright, alright. But just a few minutes, mind. And don't you go giving Rhian a hard time. She's been through enough as it is." David warned and Jeff grinned, letting out a whistle to get Ky's attention.

"Come on girl, we're in." She rushed back to the door, giving David a wary look until he moved away to let them through. Jeff grabbed her arm gently to hold her back a moment. "But if I were you, I wouldn't give her a hard time right now. If you get my meaning..." He gave her a warning look and she nodded slowly in agreement before slowly moving in through the doorway. Jeff trailed her, not taking his eyes off David until he'd gotten through the entrance. He didn't know what David was doing at Rhiannon's house, but he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Where is she?" Kylie asked, no less wary than Jeff was as she looked around the seemingly empty house.

"Right here." Rhian's voice floated down from the top of the stairs. They turned to see the young woman making her way down to them, followed by a tough looking, muscular woman who seemed entirely unimpressed.

"Jesus Rhiannon, where have you been? I've been worried sick about you. Didn't you get my messages?" Kylie stormed to the foot of the stairs to meet Rhian, who plastered a smile on her face to disguise the fact that she was annoyed beyond belief.

"Oh yes, all forty of them, dear. But I thought I'd told you that I needed time alone to sort myself out." Kylie looked somewhat abashed, but didn't back down.

"You could have at least called me once to tell me how you were doing. I've been worried."

"So you said, Ky, but I've only been back for two hours and just finished unpacking." Rhian sighed wearily, noticing Jeff standing behind Kylie, giving her a curious look. "What?" She snapped and Jeff just gave her an amused grin, shaking his head as she stormed to the kitchen with a glare.

"Back? Back from where?" Kylie ignored Jeff's chuckling to demand some answers. "And who the hell are these people?"

"If you must know, I've been in Florida training. And these _people_ are my good friends David Heath and Angelle Vachon, aka Gangrel and Luna. I met them on the circuit a few years ago and they agreed to help me out." She explained, only increasing Kylie's confusion.

"Training? Circuit? What in God's name is going on Rhian?" Rhiannon sighed and leaned back against the fridge.

"Kylie, just out of curiosity, have you noticed anything...well, different, about me since you walked in the door and started your tirade?" Kylie blinked, confused at the question, but gave Rhiannon a quick once over and was surprised to notice that there was a lot of things that were different about her. Her long once auburn hair had been layered and returned to the natural strawberry blonde colour Kylie vaguely remembered from when she had first met the woman. But what really struck Kylie was the way Rhiannon carried herself now. She seemed to have regained some of the self-esteem that had previously been lacking.

"Well, your hair is different, and you certainly look much more athletic. What on earth have you been doing?" Rhiannon grinned and motioned for Kylie to follow her to the lounge where David, Luna and Jeff sat.

"What have I been doing? Planning, scheming, training and generally getting back into the swing of things. Something I should have done a long time ago." Jeff started to laugh, looking triumphant as he gazed up at Rhiannon once more.

"I knew on that first day that I saw you in the music shop that I recognised you from somewhere." Rhian raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, waiting for him to expand on his declaration. "You wrestled in OVW with your sister a few years back. And you were a damn sight better than she was. You disappeared just before she got a WWF contract." He leaned back and smiled smugly and looked to Kylie. "That's where she was during those years you were telling me about. You were working the independent scene with Imogen, yes?"

"Yes and no." Rhian sighed, realising that now was the time to bite the bullet and just get her story out after all these years. "To start at the very beginning, when I was sixteen I met a young Canadian man who was visiting Ireland on a working holiday. He'd been working the indies for a while before he decided he needed a break. Well, to cut a long story short, we fell for each other, and during our romance, he taught me some basics in the ring and I kind of got a taste for it. So at the first chance I got after I moved here, I hunted down my idol, this woman, Luna Vachon. I convinced her to train me, unofficially of course, by making a complete idiot of myself in the ring a few times, just to get her attention." She and Luna had a giggle at the memory and David rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, by taunting her so badly she threw you in the ring and gave you a concussion, but you still got up and tried to keep fighting." He had a bit of a laugh with the girls, remembering the shock Rhiannon had been given during her 'initiation'.

"Well, she's lucky that she did, 'cause that's what convinced me to train her. She was very green, but also extremely tough and resilient. Her determination to achieve her dream was obvious to anyone who ever saw her wrestle." Luna spoke for the first time since Jeff and Kylie arrived, giving them a bit of a shock before Rhiannon continued.

"A year after I left, Imogen came to visit me and decided that she wanted to get in on the action." Rhiannon told them with a grimace, "You know, the 'anything you can do, I can do better,' type of thing. But Luna refused to train her. I've always suspected the reasons why, but I never asked. Anyway, Imogen tried to convince me to train her, and she succeeded, as usual." Rhian sighed and Jeff thought he saw a flash of pain and remorse cross her face, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came. "Well, once Luna decided I was ready, she got me booked into some local shows and once I got the feel for it, I decided to get on the road and become more independent. The only thing was, Imogen followed me with Kiara everywhere I went, to every show I did and eventually got her own start, cutting her teeth in the same indy feds that I did. I won't lie, in some ways it was a relief to have her there to share the experience with, but I always felt that she was trying to get one up on me at every show. We actually wrestled each other once, and she did the worst thing possible by not selling for me. She succeeded in making me look bad as far as most of the fans were concerned, but the fed we were wrestling for refused to pay her for the show and wouldn't have her back again. It surprised me because they were usually real assholes, but they came through that night. Said they wouldn't have some "stupid bitch on a power trip" fucking up their shows." She smiled wryly and looked down at her hands as if ashamed at being amused by the memory.

"Why the hell would she do that?" Jeff asked, his face as dark as a thundercloud. Unlike Kylie, he understood how dirty what Imogen had done actually was, and if he hadn't seen Imogen's behaviour towards Rhiannon the previous month, he probably wouldn't have believed it.

"Imogen and I dealt with that years ago. It doesn't matter now, we moved on. Which is why, when I got into OVW, I pushed to get her in there with me." She firmly replied and Jeff's eyebrows shot up, his face reflecting his disbelief. "Please, Jeff." She held a hand up to stop him from interrupting. "I just need to finish this, and yes, you are going to have some unanswered questions, but that's not your business. I'm sorry." Her tone was such that Jeff was almost afraid to ask anything more.

"As I was saying," She sighed wearily, "I got my sister into OVW with me and we worked there for over a year before I was forced out due to illness. Imogen was offered a contract with the WWE six months later and I decided to stay home and take care of Kiara. Five and a half years on the road had burnt me out and I just wanted to have a normal, quiet life. Kiara also seemed happier to be settled in one place so taking care of her became my number one priority; That hasn't changed. And if that means that I have to get my foot in the door of the WWE again to make sure that she stays happy and stable, then that's damn well what I'm going to do." She told them stubbornly, as though she was afraid that they were going to try and talk her out of it. Kylie leaned back in her seat with a mischievous smile on her face.

"I always had a feeling that's what you were doing while you were away. I mean, if you were travelling with Imogen and she managed to get into the WWE, it only stands to reason that you were the one doing all the work." She explained the reason behind her amusement and Rhian rolled her eyes.

"Don't get me wrong Ky, she did work hard to get where she got, but I suppose if I hadn't taken an interest in the profession then she wouldn't have either." Luna frowned and stood up, placing her hands on her hips.

"Hard work my ass. She wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it weren't for you. And the reason I wouldn't train her is because she wanted to learn to wrestle for all the wrong reasons, and she proved that when she refused to sell for you. I don't know why you keep letting her emotionally blackmail you Rhian, what happened was not your fault. You owe her nothing, and I intend to see you get into the WWE and prove to her and everyone else that you are and always were the better woman, wrestler and friend." She snapped and stalked off outside to cool down. Rhiannon grinned sheepishly and looked at Kylie, who looked almost frightened by Luna's tirade.

"It's okay, she's just a very vocal and emotional person, she'll calm down in a minute. Personally, I think you two would get along quite well, wouldn't you say?" She asked Gangrel who chuckled, but refused to reply, as he went in search of his wife.


	12. Excuses

Thanks for the reviews and sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've had a lot going on.

Hope you're still enjoying the story! :)

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It was later that day when Jeff, Kylie and Rhiannon sat in the backyard, catching up over a few drinks. David and Luna had gone to visit some other friends in the neighborhood so they had the place to themselves for a while.

"So, what's going on with you Jeff? Why haven't you been wrestling lately?" Rhiannon asked with a hint of concern and Jeff grinned wryly at the question.

"Well, my heart hasn't really been in it for a while now. I'm just so tired of living by someone else's schedule, you know? Anyway, to cut a long story short, I turned up to a few shows late and had some "behavioral problems" so they suspended me for a month. It's my own fault, but honestly, I'm glad they did it. It's given me some time to sort my priorities out." He explained and Rhiannon had to smile, there was a definite parallel to her own story there, and she realised that she and Jeff had more in common than she had first thought.

"Ah, yes, priorities, I can relate to that. So, you've come to a decision then?" Kylie laughed at Rhian's question and Jeff looked a bit offended.

"Sorry sugar, I don't mean to laugh, but you change your mind every hour. You have to be one of the most indecisive people I've ever met in my life."

"Well, you'd find it difficult too if you were in my position. And to answer your question, Rhian, I honestly don't think I want to go back." He sighed, looking a bit melancholy and Rhiannon's eyes narrowed.

"And is that because of you're tired of wrestling? Or because you don't want to face your brother?" She asked candidly and Jeff glared at her.

"Just like your relationship with Imogen is none of my business, my relationship with Matt is none of yours. But, for your information, I'm just tired of being away from home all the time. I feel like I need to get back to my roots. It's that simple."

"Oh really?" Sarcasm dripped from Rhiannon's words and Jeff felt his anger begin to build. "To be quite honest, I don't think it is. I threw away the first chance I had to fulfill my dream because I was afraid to ruin my relationship with my sister. Not that it wasn't already dead. But you used to have a great relationship with Matt. Don't let Imogen ruin that for you." The understanding and hurt that he saw in her eyes softened Jeff's stance, but he still wasn't ready to admit what he was feeling. Not to her, or anyone else.

"I appreciate your concern, I really do, but this is my decision. And my relationship with my brother is fine now, so you really have no idea what you're talking about." His tone made it clear that he had made his decision and Rhiannon shrugged her shoulders in apparent defeat.

"Whatever you say Jeff. Whatever you say." Jeff leaned back in his chair, examining Rhiannon with an expression of suspicion. After a few moments Kylie gave a small grunt of disapproval, drawing the attention of both Jeff and Rhiannon.

"Well, I guess I should be going then." She said curtly reaching for her bag. "You two obviously have a lot to catch up on, so I'll leave you to it." And with that, she marched into the house leaving Jeff staring after her in confusion.

"What was that about?" He asked Rhiannon, who was already going after her friend.

"Just stay there." She called back over her shoulder as she hurriedly disappeared through the door. "Ky...KYLIE Wait up!" She snapped, running to shut the front door that Kylie had just opened. "What is going on?" She whispered, throwing a concerned glance to the back door, hoping that Jeff wasn't eavesdropping. Kylie looked up at Rhiannon, her dark eyes flashing with anger.

"Oh, nothing Rhian. It was just obvious to me that you and Jeff have lots to talk about. You don't need me there taking up space." She said in a low voice, also worried that Jeff might be listening in. A look of comprehension passed over Rhiannon's face as she realised what she should have seen from the beginning.

"You like him, don't you?" A huge smile appeared on her face as Kylie's cheeks reddened and she rolled her eyes as if she was about to deny it. "You do!" She squealed excitedly and Kylie looked dumbstruck for a moment, before her eyes suddenly narrowed and she crossed her arms.

"You seem happy about that." She replied her voice filled with suspicion.

"Of course I am. It's great news, Ky! I mean...why wouldn't I be?" Rhiannon frowned in confusion and Kylie sighed, slumping against the door.

"I thought, well, I kinda just thought that you and Jeff..." Rhiannon burst into laughter and Kylie gave her a sheepish grin. She was suddenly embarrassed about her behaviour, and she felt her face get even hotter as she considered that Jeff might have figured out why she left in such a hurry. "Oh God, I'm such an idiot." She moaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Oh yeah," Rhiannon agreed with a cheeky grin and gave her friend a hug. "A real idiot. But now you've gotta stop being a lunatic and take a chance." Kylie pulled away quickly, her eyes widening at the thought and she shook her head in a panic.

"Oh no, no way! He can never, ever know." She stated adamantly and Rhiannon put her hands on her hips.

"Why the hell not? What have you got to lose?"

"My dignity, for one thing. Plus, he's a good friend now, I don't want to screw that up." She said, in what she hoped was a reasonable voice.

"And?" Rhian raised an eyebrow and Kylie frowned in consternation.

"Well, there's the fact that he's interested in your sister." She replied bitterly. Rhiannon just smiled, leaning against the wall.

"Ah, I think he's begun to see the error of his ways with that one. And besides, you've got so much more to offer than Imogen does." Kylie just grunted and rolled her eyes. "It's true." Rhian insisted, whacking her friend on the arm. "You're funny and kind, you actually give a damn about other people, unlike my sister...you're a damn sight better looking than her, too. She may be a "blonde bombshell", but she has no real substance."

"Well, I thank you for your opinion, but I doubt that Jeff would agree." Kylie said with a resigned smile, making Rhiannon growl in frustration.

"You are so damn stubborn sometimes. What if I spoke to Jeff? Without letting him in on our little secret, of course." She added dryly and Ky shook her head, opening the door again.

"No, thank you. I'd rather not know what's going on in that crazy head of his. Anyway, I really should be going, I've got a lot of things to do before work tomorrow."

"Whatever you say, dear." Rhiannon sighed and Kylie glared suspiciously at her.

"Say goodbye to Jeff for me, but not a word about anything else. I mean it." She warned before shutting the door behind her.

Rhiannon chuckled mischievously and made her way back out to where she had left Jeff as she silently formulated a plan to get the oddly matched couple together.


	13. Scheming

Sorry this chapter's so short, but it is leading into something important, I promise. ;o)

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It had been just over five months since Kylie had first seen Rhiannon's transformation back into the confident, happy-go-lucky girl she had met so long ago, and the change still amazed her. At that moment, Rhiannon was visiting Kylie at work and was delighting in making Megan's day as frustrating as possible by discreetly following her around, silently switching orders.

"You're such a bitch sometimes." Kylie giggled when Rhiannon finally tired of her sport and decided to sit at the counter and chat. Rhiannon just flipped her hair over her shoulder and shrugged innocently, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"What are you implying Ky? I was just looking for something I misplaced before I left." She replied with a sickly sweet grin. "Alright, alright...I'll stop now. There's no point getting you in trouble." She sighed at the warning look Kylie threw her. "But, if you were thinking of a change of career, maybe I could help you arrange something."

"What are you talking about, Rhian? You know I can't afford to leave this job, I have no qualifications and I don't have time to do a course." Kylie replied impatiently, having argued constantly with Rhian about the subject for the past month. Rhiannon shook her head with a sly smile and reached into her handbag, pulling out a newspaper clipping and slamming it down on the counter in front of her friend.

"Do me a favour. Read this during your lunch break." She flashed Kylie a grin and started to walk away. "Then have a little think about what you plan to do next. I'll see you tonight." She gave her friend a quick wave as she walked out of the café. As she turned around, she managed to bump into Megan, who had just finished clearing a table, sending cold coffee running down the grumpy manager's top.

"Oh dear. Maybe you should watch where you're going next time, someone could get seriously injured. Imagine if that had been hot liquid?" She ignored the venomous look Megan shot her, and shook her head as if she was disappointed in her, before continuing out of the café.

"Nice to see you again, Megan." She called back sweetly over her shoulder and shut the door before Megan could reply.


	14. Dilemma

Rhiannon rushed to answer the door before the persistent knocking broke it down. She was surprised to see Kylie standing on the porch looking a bit panicked. "What's wrong?" She asked, ushering her friend through the door and quickly locking it. Kylie sat down on the couch, trying to figure out what to say.

"You want me to learn how to be...a _wrestler?_" She managed to squeak out, holding up the clipping where the new local wrestling school was advertised.

"Why not? You've always loved wrestling, you're in good shape and I think you'd do damn well if you wanted to." Rhiannon shrugged, making her expression somewhat cool, going over the plan in her mind again. She had to be sure that she didn't slip up here, because if she did, Kylie would catch on to what she was thinking. Then she'd most likely run screaming from the house and never come back.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that I want to become a wrestler." Kylie exclaimed, looking a bit wild-eyed as Rhian sat down in front of her, praying that Kylie would take the bait.

"Ky, I'm going to level with you here, I need you to help me out with something. I will understand completely if you say no, actually, I'm expecting it." She admitted looking down at her hands and Kylie frowned, becoming concerned.

"What's bothering you Rhian? Is everything okay?" Rhiannon looked up at Kylie, her large green eyes filled with anxiety.

"I'm going to Louisville, Kylie...to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling." Her explanation made Kylie laugh with relief.

"Well, what's wrong with that? I thought you'd be over the moon!" She exclaimed, but Rhiannon's panicked expression didn't waver.

"When Imogen finds out that I'm back in the game, so to speak, she's going to go absolutely feral. It's going to turn into a competition again, just like it was before. That's one of the reasons I didn't go back after my injury and that's what almost stopped me from going for it again this time." She sighed, leaning back and tapping the coffee table nervously.

"So, what am I supposed to do about that?" Kylie asked slowly, "You know your sister hates me more than she..."

"Hates me?" Rhiannon grinned when Kylie just nodded sheepishly in agreement. "No, I know I need to handle Imogen myself, but I would feel better about having a friend in the place. At least one person who knows me and will back me up if she starts spreading vicious rumours – Again."

"But, even if I did train to be a wrestler, it could be years before I'd make it to the WWE...if at all!" Kylie told her friend patiently and Rhiannon nodded in agreement, getting ready to spring the trap.

"True. Which is why I need your help...but I don't think you're going to like it." She admitted with a grimace and Kylie raised an eyebrow, waiting for Rhiannon to continue. "I need you to help me to get Jeff back in the WWE."

"What? How the hell do you expect me to do that?" Kylie frowned in confusion...then it all clicked. "You're not asking what I think you're asking?"

"Well, if you're thinking that I want you to ask Jeff to begin training you to be a wrestler in order to re-ignite his passion for the business...then you would be right." She said in a rush and bolted into the kitchen before Kylie had a chance to respond.

"You want me to WHAT?" She shrieked, her eyes wide with apprehension, as she followed her friend into the kitchen.

"Well, it'd help me out a lot." Rhiannon said smiling meekly as Kylie slapped her arm.

"There is no chance in hell you can convince me to do this Rhian. No way at all." She snapped, adamant in her decision and Rhian rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Why the hell not? If you take to it, you could very well end up in the WWE with me! It'd be a hell of a lot better than working in that café for the rest of your life. What have you got to lose?"

"How about my dignity? What if I make a fool of myself? It's not like I'm all that athletic." She fretted quietly and Rhiannon smiled at her unease.

"Well, if you remember correctly, neither was I before I got started. But you're not unfit, Ky, all you really need to do is work on your strength and muscle tone. It won't be too hard." Kylie growled at her friend, thinking that this was beside the point. "This could be the best thing for you!"

"I am not asking Jeff Hardy to train me!" Kylie reiterated firmly and Rhiannon had to laugh.

"That's okay, dear. You don't have to ask him."

"But you will." Kylie stated accusingly as Rhiannon shook her head in the negative, looking like she was very pleased with herself.

"No. I'll just plant the idea in his mind. He'll take it from there." She winked at her friend who let out a low groan. "Just trust me, will you? Have I ever steered you wrong before?"

"I refuse to answer that." Kylie replied wryly, before turning serious again. "Look, I really don't like this, Rhian, not at all. I don't think I could handle being around Jeff that much...it'll be too...ugh! I don't know, I just can't!" She wailed, her big brown eyes pleading with Rhian to drop the subject. But rather than being sympathetic, Rhiannon's jaw clenched in frustration and she grabbed Kylie firmly by the shoulders to look her in the eye.

"You don't have to like it. All I need to know is, if I manage to get Jeff to come up with the idea, will you go along with what I tell him and just give it a go? Just give it a try, Kylie! Please? For me." Kylie looked into Rhiannon's eyes and saw the desperation therein. She sighed, pulling away from her friend, thinking hard about what Rhian was proposing.

What did she really have to lose? It might even be fun...but spending all that time with Jeff, she didn't know if she could hide her feelings for him. Although, the thought of spending so much time with him was tempting...

She sighed heavily and hung her head, knowing that Rhiannon had won. The annoying thing was that she knew that Rhiannon knew it as well.

"Oh, alright." She snapped, ignoring Rhiannon's excited squeal, "but, I swear, if you say anything to Jeff about how..."

"I know, I know. No speaking of your forbidden feelings. Got it." She grinned and swept her friend up in an excited hug. "Thank you so much!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...just don't get me in over my head, okay?" She smiled grudgingly at Rhiannon's excitement.

"Okay, but I do need you to go along with whatever I tell Jeff."

"Which will be?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well, basically just that I talked you into training to be a wrestler and that you're planning on going to this wrestling school." She pointed to the leaflet she had given Kylie earlier in the day. "Trust me, it'll all fall into place from there." She grinned, looking suddenly sober as the doorbell rang. "Okay, you ready?"

"Now?" Kylie squeaked and Rhiannon just nodded her head, looking mischievous. "Dear lord, give me strength." Kylie turned her eyes heavenward as Rhian went to answer the door.

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I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story (Angel Rose, Wataphreek, Wipeout18, Araz, Huntersgirl and Carolyn aka: Aussiewrestlingfan) but I especially want to thank Phoenix who I think has reviewed every chapter! LOL I really appreciate it guys and hopefully now that I'm at home full time I'll be able to check out/catch up on all your stories and review them too! 

Take care all and hope you're still enjoying this. I know that it might get a little slow in parts (and I really am trying to work on fixing that.), but I assure you, it will pick up soon! :o)


	15. Planting the seeds

Thanks again for the reviews, I'm having a ball with this story. :o)

Oh, and yes Phoenix, I'm having a lot of fun exploring Rhiannon's mischievious and manipulative side...I think she and Imogen are a bit more alike in some ways than they might think. LOL

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"I figured you might want to celebrate." Jeff grinned as he came through the door and held up a bottle of champagne. Rhiannon laughed delightedly and gave Jeff a hug. 

"Absolutely! And I love your taste." She moved back to close the door and happily claimed the bottle from Jeff. "I'll just get some glasses, shall I?" She asked as Kylie timidly came out of the kitchen and Jeff's grin widened.

"Might be an idea. Hey Ky, did you hear the news? Our girl got into OVW!" He stated proudly and Kylie nodded with a smile.

"Yes, about time too." She replied and Jeff's eyes followed her shapely form as she made her way to the couch.

"You okay Kylie? You seem a bit...distracted, or something." He asked mildly and she just stared blankly up at him and shook her head.

"No. I'm fine, just a bit tired. It's been a long day." He nodded, although he didn't believe her. Something was obviously on the girl's mind, he'd never seen her so quiet.

"Come on, come on. Sit down, let's enjoy this lovely bubbly that you kindly acquired for us." Rhiannon smiled as she sat opposite Kylie and started to pour the drinks. Jeff shrugged and went to sit next to Kylie, who stiffened slightly, then forced herself to relax as she grabbed the glass that Rhian offered.

"Well, when are you leaving for Louisville?" Jeff asked, also taking a glass and leaning back to get comfortable.

"Late next week, and I can't wait. I just want to get back in the game and learn whatever I can from the best trainers around." She replied with a smile and Jeff considered that this was the first time he'd seen her truly happy and relaxed since he'd known her.

"Yeah, you'll certainly get an education, as you well know." He raised his eyebrows in agreement and Kylie frowned apprehensively.

"You make it sound less than appealing." She told Jeff warily and he started to laugh.

"Oh, no, it's not so bad. It's a lot of hard work and there are a lot of politics that go on, but once you learn how to handle it, it's all a piece of cake really, as long as you know what you want and you're willing to work hard to get it." He nodded to agree with himself, then wondered why Kylie had sounded so worried about it. As one possibility passed through his mind, he turned to Kylie with grin.

"You're not thinking of getting into the business, are you?" He asked, sounding extremely amused and Kylie went slightly red in the cheeks.

"You sound skeptical, Jeff. Is the idea really so ludicrous?" Rhiannon asked, as Kylie seemed to have temporarily been robbed of her speech. Jeff looked back and forth between the women a few times, as if trying to discern whether they were serious. When he realised that they were, his grin widened and he shook his head.

"No, of course not! It's just that I never thought that it would have appealed to you, that's all. Really!" He impressed, trying to convince Kylie that he meant it. She just stared at him blankly, like she didn't want to believe that what he said was true.

"Well, actually, I was the one who talked Kylie into it. I've been thinking about it for quite some time, but I wasn't sure whether or not she'd go for the idea. Well, it's taken a while, but she's finally decided to bite the bullet and give it a go. I found this new wrestling school advertised and the quotes for training I got aren't too bad." She pulled the clipping out of her jeans pocket and handed it to him to look over. "I'm going to check out the trainer's reputations and such, but if they're okay...What's wrong Jeff?" The young man was staring at the piece of paper incredulously and he suddenly looked up at Rhiannon as if she was crazy.

"Oh no, no way in hell am I letting Kylie train with these guys. Do you have any idea just how many times they've been shut down in the past?"

"What are you talking about?" Kylie finally found her voice, although it came out slightly more high pitched than was usual.

"They've set up so many times in different states it's not funny. It's no wonder, since the amount of injuries that come out of this company is frightening! They have absolutely no safety standards and no real idea of what they're doing. You might as well do what Matt and I did and start in the backyard!" He growled, disgusted at what these people were doing. "I'll have to report them to someone tomorrow, there's no way I'm letting them maim anyone else if I can help it."

"God, that's terrible. I had no idea..." Rhiannon pretended to be shocked by this turn of events, when really, she'd already had dealings with this company before. An old friend of hers had been seriously injured when he'd trained with them. She'd had no idea who she should report them to, so she figured she'd kill two birds with one stone and get Jeff to do that for her, too.

"I'm sorry, but there's no way in hell you're training with them Ky. I won't let you get hurt like that. I'd train you myself before I'd let that happen." He said firmly and a smile passed over Rhiannon's face, as Jeff suddenly looked thoughtful: this was going even better than she'd hoped. "Do you have a gym membership, Kylie?" He asked, not having noticed the look that passed between the girls.

"No, unfortunately. I've just kept fit by jogging and bike riding, really." She admitted and Jeff looked troubled.

"Well, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I may be able to offer you a cheaper, more convenient option." She smiled, trying not to look too excited that everything was going to plan.

"What are you talking about, Rhian?" Kylie asked suspiciously and Rhiannon figured she'd better explain before she showed them.

"Well, after Kath passed away, I decided to put the basement to good use and used some of the money she left me to install a gym downstairs." She smiled at Kylie's surprised expression. "That's not all. After I started on the indy scene, Luna and David gave me the idea of building my own ring to practice in once I got home. They and a few other mates helped to design and build it for a small fee, and David checks it out to make sure that it's still in good condition whenever he comes to visit." She tried not to laugh at the incredulous expressions on both of their faces. "What? It was a good idea!"

Jeff suddenly burst out laughing and slapped his knee excitedly. "You're just full of surprises, girl." He shook his head and stood up. "Well, why don't you give us a little tour of this gym, then?"

"As you wish." She motioned towards the basement door and as he bounced his way over there Rhian turned and served Kylie with a sly wink, before moving to follow.

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Well, I hope you enjoyed that chapter...Okay, you know the drill, please Read and Review. ;o)


	16. Hopeless

Jeff lay back on the couch, feeling a little worse for wear after all the drink he had consumed.

"Well, I have to hand it to you kiddo, you've certainly got a great little set-up at your disposal. Are you sure you don't mind Kylie and I using it for her training?" He asked Rhiannon, who had just fallen in a heap onto the beanbag.

"Are you kidding? I'd rather have you two using it than letting it go to waste while I'm away."

"Speaking of which," Kylie, who was sitting slumped against the couch, leaned forward with a concerned look on her face. "What are you going to tell Imogen and Kiara if they come back to visit?"

"Nothing." Rhiannon answered simply, before deciding to expand on her statement. "Imogen will more than likely find out that I'm at OVW through the grapevine anyway. And since she won't speak to me unless she happens to pass by here, that's her problem." She shrugged, the haunted expression returning to her eyes as her thoughts turned to her niece. Kylie immediately regretted having brought the subject up, but Jeff was concerned by what Rhiannon had said and wanted to know more.

"Have you heard from Kiara since they were last here?"

"Yeah, a couple of times, she's managed to sneak a few calls in while she's being "babysat" by your friend, Shannon. He's let her use his cell phone and I've sent him money for the bill. Thank you for setting that up, by the way." She smiled appreciatively at Jeff and he nodded back to her.

"But it's been four months since they were last here. Surely they haven't been on the road that long?" Kylie asked with a frown. She hadn't asked about Imogen and Kiara's absence before now because she hadn't wanted to upset her friend, but since the subject had come up she figured she might as well satisfy her curiosity.

"No, they haven't." Jeff replied shortly and Kylie, surprised by his cutting tone, turned to him with a confused look on her face. "Imogen and Kiara have been staying with my brother at his place during their time off. Not that I see them much when they're here, Matt's still avoiding me, but when I do see Kiara I try to tell her how Rhiannon's doing and take messages back and forth as much as I can."

"It must be hard for you. I'm sorry." She felt bad about having asked, but Jeff just waved it off with a laugh.

"Don't worry about it, I'm adjusting." He stared into her warm brown eyes with a smile and found himself not wanting to look away. She was beautiful, he'd noticed that immediately, but in the beginning Imogen was the only woman who had occupied his thoughts. But more and more lately he found his thoughts turning to the stunning, fiery brunette who had burst into his life without warning. He'd worried that once Rhiannon had moved to Louisville, that Kylie would disappear just as suddenly as she'd appeared. But now with the prospect of training her, he found that he was relieved that this wouldn't be the case.

"Well, I think it's time for me to hit the hay, I'm afraid that I'm not cut out for the party life anymore." Rhiannon joked as she rose, figuring that she should give the two some space to talk freely. She was disappointed to note that Kylie broke off the eye contact with Jeff and started to clear the coffee table.

"I'm right with you, Rhian. It's been a long day." She smiled, recalling the workout that Jeff had put her through earlier.

"Aw. But I'm bored." Jeff complained, hoping to rope Kylie into staying up a bit longer. But as she emerged from the kitchen she was shaking her head.

"You're just too much sometimes Jeff. Anyway, I thought we were going to start getting into intensive training tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I suppose so." He watched her disappear up the stairs with disappointment. Rhian came out of the kitchen and examined him with amusement. "What?"

"Nuthin'. Goodnight Jeff." She headed up the stairs and found Kylie sitting on Kiara's old bed, a far-away expression on her face. Rhiannon closed the door, catching Kylie's attention. "So, why'd you run away?"

"I didn't run away." Kylie sighed, lying back against the pillow. "I just didn't want him to do or say something he might regret in the morning."

"Kylie, in case you hadn't noticed, he's become absolutely entranced by you."

"Well, it took him long enough to notice me." She snapped, closing her eyes, obviously not wanting to continue the discussion.

"You can't change the past, Ky. He may have had feelings for Imogen once, but he hardly knew her. You can't blame him for being taken in by her act." Rhiannon reasoned, trying to get Kylie to see some sense.

"Well, I may like the man, but I'll always be second to him! If Imogen weren't with Jeff's brother, she'd probably be with Jeff. He wouldn't have looked twice at me in that case. No matter what I do, I cannot live up to her, she'll always be more beautiful, more charismatic..."

"Only in your mind, not Jeff's. He sees her for who she truly is now. And, he sees you. He wants you." She smiled gently at her friend who shook her head and looked away.

"He wanted her first." Rhiannon's heart sank as she realised the problem ran deeper than she had first imagined.

"I'm sorry, Ky, that you're so quick to let your own insecurities get the better of you. But, it's not my problem if you want to give up on your happiness because of it."

Since Kylie didn't reply, Rhiannon opened the door quite forcefully and moved into the hallway, only to crash right into Jeff. She closed the door quickly, hoping that Kylie hadn't seen him. The stunned expression on his face told her that he'd heard at least part of the conversation. She led him down the hallway before pushing him into the spare bedroom he was to sleep in.

"I hope you have the sense to take care of that little problem while I'm away." She told him firmly, before shutting the bedroom door and heading down to the gym; she needed to blow off some steam.

* * *

Thanks for the reviews Phoenix and Carolyn!

Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up sometime tomorrow. :o)


	17. Low

Sorry I took so long to update...things have been hectic lately. I've had job interviews galore and my feet and back are killing me! LOL

Anyway, I hope this doesn't annoy anyone too much, but I've skipped 5 months ahead with this next chapter. And I have to say that Rhiannon's attitude really pisses me off in this chapter for some reason...what are your opinions?

Thanks for the reviews Carolyn, Phoenix and WipeOut18! Much appreciated.

Enjoy!!!

* * *

**_5 months later..._**

Rhiannon fumbled with the keys to the front door of her small apartment in Louisville, doing her best not to drop the armful of groceries she carried while she placed the key in the lock.

"Here, let me help you with that." Rhiannon felt a twinge of annoyance when she heard the familiar voice behind her and turned to see Jeff watching her with an amused look on his face. He didn't wait for an answer as he turned the lock, opening the door, and took some of the bags out of Rhiannon's arms. She followed Jeff into the apartment, wondering what had caused him to turn up out of the blue like this. She hadn't seen Jeff or Kylie since she'd moved to Louisville and had only heard from them over the phone once or twice in the past few months. All she really knew was that they had finally worked out their differences and gotten together. The other thing was that Jeff had convinced Kylie to start a course in tourism, which is what she had really wanted to get into in the first place.

"What are you doing here Jeff?" The tiny woman asked as she placed the groceries on the bench in the kitchenette.

"I missed ya kiddo." He grinned and leaned against the sink, glancing around the tiny apartment. "Nice place." He commented with a hint of sarcasm and Rhiannon took a deep breath to stop herself from snapping at him.

"Well the rent's cheap and it does the job. Keeps the wind and rain out." She shrugged without a hint of a smile. "So what's the problem, Jeff? Why are you really here?"

"You're not happy to see me?" He asked, sounding a bit hurt and Rhiannon bit her lip.

"This is the first time you've visited me here, I figure that there's something wrong, so why don't you spit it out." She replied, somewhat bitterly, and Jeff stifled a groan.

"I'm sorry. I guess I've been a bit caught up with stuff at home lately."

"Yeah, you and Kylie both. How's the training going?" She asked politely as she began to put away the groceries.

"We gave up on that ages ago. Ky just wasn't really cut out for it, but she does enjoy working out in the gym, though." He replied uneasily, feeling guilty for the lack of contact that he'd had with her. Rhiannon just nodded, her back turned towards him as she loaded the fridge. "Rhian, I'm sorry that we haven't been in touch much lately, I've been having talks with the WWE about going back and that's been taking up a lot of time and energy. And Kylie's been working through the day and doing her course at night."

"Jeff, you don't have to explain anything to me, okay?" She snapped, finally turning to look at Jeff and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. "As you can see, everything's fine here. Obviously you and Kylie are doing well, so now that we all know that, why don't you just go home."

"I'm not going anywhere until we get this sorted out." He refused stubbornly, and Rhiannon put her head in her hands in frustration.

"Jeff, I'm tired! I don't need this right now, I just want to take a long shower and go to bed, if you don't mind."

"I do mind, Rhian. You're family to me, and I don't think I could cope if I lost you too." The hurt in his voice made Rhiannon pause for a minute and she realised that she was probably being unfair.

"Well, you haven't. Look, you've just caught me at a bad time, it's been such a long week...if I weren't so tired I could probably deal with my feelings a whole lot better. But as it is, I'm not able to. I'm sorry." Looking Rhiannon in the eyes, Jeff could see the hopelessness that she was feeling and again he felt bad about waiting this long to come down and visit. Wrapping his arms around the woman's shoulders, he gave her a comforting hug, whereby Rhiannon burst into noisy tears.

"Hey, hey, hey...it's okay sis." He held her tight until the worst of the weeping had passed, before making a suggestion. "Why don't I make you a coffee and you can sit down and tell me what's been happening, okay?" Rhiannon eventually nodded and pulled away, reaching for the tissues.

"I'm sorry Jeff. My emotions have just been all over the place lately. I don't know what's wrong with me." Jeff chuckled slightly, remembering what it was like when he was trying to get a place in the WWE.

"It's okay, Rhian. I understand completely."

Once Jeff had made her coffee, they sat down and Rhiannon related everything that had happened in the past 5 months. Within the first few weeks of starting at OVW, she'd suffered a sprained ankle, which was still fairly weak and kept going out on her at the worst possible times. Then there were the migraines that just didn't seem to stop, which her doctor thought were caused by depression, anxiety and exhaustion. He'd put her on anti-depressants at the request of the trainers, but the medication was making her feel worse. She was suffering from nightmares and had panic attacks at least 3 times a week, usually more. And then, to top it all off, every time that the WWE said they wanted to give her a proper trial, it was always called off at the last minute. Most recently they told Rhian that she was just the type of girl that they wanted to bring in, but they just didn't have any room at the moment.

"It just seems less and less likely that I'm going to get a shot in there." She told him hoarsely, blowing her nose and throwing another tissue into the small basket she kept beside her; the pile had grown considerably in the past quarter of an hour, as she had kept bursting into tears at the drop of a hat. "I have no way of knowing how Kiara is, I can't get any information off anyone! I just don't think I'm cut out for this, Jeff. I'm so tired and I keep getting sick, I feel like I'm going out of my mind. The only thing that's keeping me going is the thought of one-day seeing my niece again. I don't think I even care about the wrestling any more!"

"That can't be true, Rhian. I think things are just getting on top of you and it's making things seem a lot harder than they really are. You need a break." He told her gently and Rhiannon laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, if I need a break every few months, how far am I going to get in this business? Nowhere." She threw her arms up in the air, frustrated with the entire scenario.

"Rhiannon, your problems aren't just going to disappear. You need to take a step back for a little while and sort out exactly what it is that's causing all your problems. Otherwise, you're going to end up having a nervous breakdown."

"I already know what it is, Jeff. I need to know that Kiara is okay and that Imogen is taking care of her. I need to be there to keep an eye on her and make sure that she's healthy and happy. It's the not knowing that's driving me crazy."

"Well, once I get back in there, I promise that I'll keep you informed about what's going on." Rhiannon smiled weakly at her friend and nodded.

"Thank you, I just wish I could be there."

"You will be. It's just going to take time, hopefully not too much more, though. I'll see if I can get any info on how people think you're doing in OVW and I'll let you know, alright."

"No, I don't want people to think I put you up to it." She declined with a troubled look on her face and Jeff chuckled.

"No one will think that, sweetie. I know how to do these things without arousing suspicion, believe me. Now, you're going to have a shower while I cook you some dinner. No arguments!" He told her firmly, as she looked like she was about to say no. Then, rolling her eyes, she got up and gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks Jeff, I'm sorry I was such a bitch earlier. I am glad you're here, it's really good to see you. I've missed you and Kylie so much."

"We've missed you too, and hopefully next time I can get my girl down here too, then we can really have a reunion."

"That'd be good. Thanks for listening, anyway." She smiled and walked into the bathroom.

"Anytime, sweetie."


	18. Wake up call

Jeff quickly unlocked the door to his hotel, slammed the door closed behind him and bolted for the phone. He'd been back with the WWE just two weeks and today he had been told that Rhiannon was definitely being brought into the company. Victoria had seriously injured her knee in a match with Jacqueline a few days beforehand and needed a reconstruction. Management had decided that they needed to bring in someone new and wanted to take a chance on Rhian.

He sat, tapping his fingers anxiously on the bedside drawers, while the phone rang...and rang...and rang. He was about to hang up when a sleepy voice greeted him on the other end.

"Rhian?"

"Jeff? It's 12am, what -"

"You got in! They want you to start next week!" There was silence on the other end, and he could almost see her chewing her lip in confusion. "You there?"

"Jeff, what are you talking about?"

"You've got your chance, sweetie. You'll be a WWE employee starting next week."

"You're messing with me, aren't you?" He could hear her voice trembling and had to laugh.

"Would I really do that? I know how much this means to you, Rhian. You'll get to see your niece next week."

"Oh my god! Are you serious?"

"YES! Why do you think I called? I wanted you to hear it from me first so that you're prepared when they tell you."

"When did you find out?" He could hear her jumping up and down in the kitchen and had to stop himself from laughing again.

"Today. It's a definite Rhian, you're in!" He could hear her starting to hyperventilate. "Honey, breathe!"

"I'm trying!" She managed to squeak out. "I can't believe this, Jeff. I'm just so...argh!"

"I know, which is why I thought I should tell you first."

"Thank you...I just...thank you so much!" She was crying now and Jeff smiled.

"Hey, you did all this yourself, you have nothing to thank me for dear. It's late, as you pointed out earlier, you should get some sleep."

"Like I could sleep now."

"Try. I'll see you next week. Give me a call and we can organise to meet up when you start."

"Okay, thanks hun. I'll see you soon, then."

* * *

Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm glad Rhiannon didn't bug you last chapter...I don't know what it was last chapter that annoyed me, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I'm glad you all liked it. And I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I don't think I could have made it much longer. lol

I'll be back soon with another update!


	19. Reunion

Okay, sorry I've waited so long to update. I've had lots of stuff going on these past couple of weeks and have been to exhausted to even switch the computer on, let alone edit and update my stories! LOL So, I figure I'll post two chapters tonight to make up for it. :o)

Thanks again for the reviews, they've been keeping me motivated and I appreciate that.

Hope y'all enjoy!

* * *

A week later, Shane Helms and Shannon Moore were walking down one of the corridors with Kiara in tow. Imogen had pulled yet another disappearing act and the guys were trying to help Kiara find her wayward mother before they had to get ready for the show that night.

"Are you sure she said for you to meet her in the women's locker room?" Shannon asked gently, causing the girl to roll her amber eyes in annoyance.

"How many times do you have to ask me that? Yes, she told me to meet her there, twice, in fact. I'm not deaf you know." Shane tried to smother a chuckle and received a glare from his friend for his efforts.

"What? This is the fourth or fifth time you've asked her. The person we need to find is Matt. Wherever he is, I'm sure Imogen isn't far behind."

"Well, at least that should be easier than finding Jeff is." Shannon grinned as they turned the corner that led to the men's locker room. They stopped in their tracks as they viewed Jeff Hardy entering the room in a hurry. "Well, whaddya know, I was wrong. Maybe he'll know were Matt and Imogen are."

Kiara however, was preoccupied with someone who had caught her eye on the other side of the corridor. Shane, noticing this, turned to look and spied a young strawberry blonde woman leaning against the wall. She was chewing on her knuckles and frowning in an agitated fashion. She wore a purple tracksuit and was carrying a sports bag, which told him that she wasn't just here for a quick visit.

Hearing a quiet sob, he looked down at Kiara and saw that her eyes had widened and were filled with tears. The peculiar thing though, was that she actually had a genuinely happy smile on her face.

"Rhiannon!" Kiara cried out and Shane glanced up in time to see the woman turn sharply to face Kiara with a shocked expression. Then in the next moment, a radiant smile lit up her face and in one fluid movement she stepped away from the wall, dropping the bag and took a few tentative steps towards them.

With a strangled cry, Kiara ran to her aunt and hurled herself into her waiting arms. Tears were now streaming down both of their faces as they hugged each other tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again." Kiara sobbed loudly.

"I'm here now sweetheart and I won't be going anywhere." Rhiannon swore, trying frantically to put a stop to her tears. Kiara pulled away, wiping the tears from her face and laughing.

"Did you get a job here? Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, amazed that after so long, her aunt had finally come back to her.

"I didn't want to disappoint you in case this didn't come about. My position here still isn't guaranteed sweetie, but at least I've got a shot now." Rhiannon explained gently, but Kiara wouldn't let that get her down. At least Rhian was trying and deep down, Kiara knew that her aunt would be staying. She wouldn't - couldn't - believe otherwise.

"How have you been, Kiara?" Rhiannon asked quietly when her niece didn't respond.

"I...it's h-horrible." Kiara's eyes filled with angry tears, her amber eyes full of hurt. "I hate it here Rhian. I hate it." She stated emphatically, her voice shaking with the emotion she felt. "I feel so alone."

Rhiannon felt so helpless seeing Kiara in this state. Before the girl had left home with Imogen, she had begun to look ill, but now she looked almost like a walking skeleton. Kiara had grown quite a bit since Rhian had last seen her, and now stood at least an inch above her aunt, which only served to make her loss of weight more obvious. Her pale skin had a grey tinge to it and her eyes had large, dark bags underneath.

"Kiara, what's happened to you?" She asked gently, looking her niece over in concern.

"Not enough sleep, I guess." Kiara shrugged, wiping the tears away again.

"Well, we need to fix that, don't we?" Rhian smiled fondly and Kiara felt a rush of pure happiness flow through her for the first time in over a year. Finally, she felt secure again.

"I've missed you, Rhiannon, so much." She hugged her aunt tightly again, her words bringing tears to Rhian's eyes again.

"And I've missed you even more." She heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see Shannon and Shane watching the reunion with some confusion. Kiara turned around to the guys and rolled her eyes.

"Shannon, Shane, this is my aunt, Rhiannon O'Connor. I used to live with her while mom was on the road. Rhian, this is Shannon Moore and Shane Helms, they're friends of Matt's." Rhiannon looked back and forth between the men warily.

"Hi." Rhiannon said quietly, not really wanting to get into a deep conversation with them just yet. She knew these were Jeff's friends as well, but he'd still told her to trust no one when it came to Imogen.

"Nice to meet you, Rhiannon. Jeff's told me a lot about you." Shannon smiled, having already been warned about her possible aloof attitude from Jeff. Shane hadn't been so well informed, however, and was slightly affronted by her coldness.

"You're Imogen's sister?" He asked in a controlled voice, hiding his surprise at the fact well. Rhiannon was somewhat plainer than Imogen, who was model material, but she was by no means unattractive.

"What? She's actually mentioned me?" Rhiannon asked dryly and Shane's eyes narrowed, not really sure what to make of the young woman.

"No, I don't really have much to do with her." Rhiannon rolled her eyes, slightly disbelieving, before mumbling something in a language neither of the guys understood. Kiara, however, snorted with laughter and replied in the same tongue, her eyes wide and she looked at Shane almost mockingly. Rhiannon appeared surprised at what Kiara had told her.

"You know it's rude to speak in a foreign language when having a conversation with people who don't understand it." As Shane crossed his arms in an annoyed fashion, Rhiannon's full, rosy lips lifted slightly at the corners.

"Yes, I do believe you're right. I apologise." She replied, not sounding very sorry at all and Shannon tried to bite back a laugh.

"Hey guys, I see you've met my sister." Jeff came strolling out of the locker room to see Shane glaring at Rhiannon and hurried to try and head off any unpleasantness. "Kiara!" He grinned cheekily at the girl. "I told you I had a surprise for you."

"You knew?" She sounded annoyed, but not surprised as Jeff just winked at her.

"Your sister?" Shane asked, sounding somewhat incredulous.

"Yes, Rhiannon's pretty much family to me now, but I did forget to warn you, she's not easy to get along with in the beginning. The girl's pretty stubborn with new people, it took ages before she'd really open up to me." From Jeff's mild tone Shane didn't know whether to take him seriously, but judging from the ice cold look Rhiannon shot her "brother", it probably wasn't too far from the truth. "Well, I'm sorry to break this up, but I've gotta take Rhian to speak to some people. Kiara, your mother's down near catering."

"No! I want to go with you, Rhian." Kiara grabbed her aunt's hand, her panicked expression breaking Jeff's heart.

"Hey, sweetie, I'm not going far. I just have to get this sorted out so we can get on with things here. We'll have plenty of time to spend together after today, okay?" She gave her niece a big hug.

"But I only just found you. I don't want you to go away again."

"I'm not going anywhere, Kiara." Rhian fought to hold back the tears again as Jeff separated them gently.

"C'mon kiddo, do you really think she'd just disappear after all the hard work she's done to get here? Believe me, she ain't going anywhere." He told Kiara gently and looked to Shannon. "Take care of her for us?" Shannon just nodded, concerned by Kiara's obvious distress and attachment to her aunt.

"And I'd appreciate it if none of you told Imogen that I'm here. I'd like to tell her myself, if that's okay?" Rhiannon asked slyly and Kiara smiled at the glint in her aunt's eye.

"Okay, but you'd better tell me what happens when you do." Kiara threatened with a grin before turning and skipping away, the guys just shook their heads as they followed the girl away. Rhiannon had to chuckle at her niece's behaviour, just happy to see a sparkle in Kiara's eye. Jeff wrapped an arm around her shoulder noticing that her eye's glistened with tears as her niece bounced down the corridor.

"So...was it worth it?" He asked smugly while Rhiannon smiled widely, her face glowing with contentment.

"I think you already know the answer to that."


	20. Adjusting

Three weeks had passed since Rhiannon's entry into the WWE and surprisingly, rather than protesting at her presence, Imogen barely acknowledged her at all and, although it hurt, Imogen's attitude didn't really surprise Rhian one bit. The upside to this was that she got to spend some uninterrupted time with Kiara at the arenas.

Everything else seemed to be falling into place as well. Although there were the usual teething problems she had with fitting in, Rhiannon had managed to impress most everybody with her work ethic as well as her in-ring talent. There was talk about putting her in a few possible angles, but so far the writers and management hadn't quite found "the right mix", as they put it. She and Jeff had good chemistry and they were considering matching them up, but figured that there was really nothing else to do besides put them in a romantic angle. Rhiannon had vehemently fought against the idea. Besides the fact that Jeff was dating her best friend, the idea of kissing someone she thought of as a brother just made her skin crawl. She couldn't seem to abide the thought of it, so the writers let the idea go, asking her for some ideas and promising to consider other options.

This particular afternoon Rhiannon was in the downstairs restaurant of the hotel helping Kiara with her schoolwork. Although she really was making an effort to concentrate, Kiara was becoming increasingly edgy as time wore on, looking over her shoulder every few minutes, checking for her mother.

"C'mon love, I can take you back to your room if you're really that worried." Rhiannon finally sighed and Kiara just shook her head sharply, a frown plastered on her face.

"No, I want to stay. I just don't want Mom coming down and dragging me off."

"Look, your mother just wants what's best for you Kiara, don't let her stress you out, okay?" Rhian advised gently, although she knew it was easier said than done.

"How can I not? She's trying to control my entire life! I'm 14 years old now, she can't tell me who I can and can't see or speak to." She ran her fingers through her long, wavy blonde hair nervously, looking around again. When Kiara was sure the coast was clear, she looked back to her aunt, seeming more agitated than ever. "And will you look at what she's making me wear?" As she motioned to the pastel pink, slightly low cut cardigan, short white skirt and pale pink sandals that she wore, Rhiannon couldn't hide the tiny smirk that crept onto her face. "I'm not a bloody clothes-horse Rhian! I hate wearing pink! This is not funny, why are you laughing?" She asked indignantly as Rhiannon started giggling helplessly and shook her head.

"Hey, at least it's you and not me." Kiara pouted as she realised that she was going to get absolutely no sympathy here.

"You're horrible Rhiannon, I'm being terrorised here!" She replied with absolutely no conviction, which only served to make Rhiannon laugh harder.

"Oh no, I've been there and done that so I'm allowed to laugh at your misfortune now." She explained cheekily and Kiara's eyes widened in shock.

"You let Mom dress you up? You?"

"Well, I was the baby sister. She used to dress me up all the time until I hit my teens, then I started getting all rebellious, so I told her to bugger off and made my own style. I have to admit, it was pretty tragic, but at least it wasn't all lace and frills."

"So, what was it like?" Kiara asked, her eyes bright and a large grin on her face.

"What, the style?" Kiara nodded and Rhiannon started chuckling. "Oh god, I don't know, it started out kinda grungy and ended up as full on Goth. I'll see if I can dig up some old photos next time we go home." Kiara started to laugh as she imagined her aunt as a Goth. It just didn't seem right.

"What did Grandma and Grandpa say when you started doing that?" She regretted the question as soon as she asked it since, at the mention of her grandparents, the familiar haunted shadow, which always unnerved Kiara, returned to Rhian's eyes.

"I'm sure you can guess, dear." She replied wryly. "Anyway, things turned out okay for my wardrobe in the end. It's not to everybody's taste, but I like what I wear and find it very comfortable." She smiled, seemingly satisfied as she looked down at the plain crimson top and flowing black pants that she wore. It was a very simple, natural look, not very stylish, but still suited her nonetheless. They sat in silence for a few minutes, a slight air of tension still surrounding them. Kiara sighed and decided to change the subject.

"So, how's it going with work? Have they decided what to do with you yet?" Rhiannon smiled and shook her head.

"No, they're still thinking about it, and so am I. I have a few vague ideas, but I don't know if they'll work. I'm meeting with the writers again tomorrow morning and we'll talk some more. It would help if they didn't shoot down every idea I had for a character. All they want to do with me is turn me into some sort of bimbo who follows some guy around and interferes in his matches."

"Like Mom?" Kiara asked, looking slightly amused as Rhiannon realised that was exactly what Imogen's character did with Matt Hardy.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" Rhiannon replied mildly, rolling her eyes, as Kiara burst into giggles.

"No, of course you didn't." She said, looking over her shoulder again. This time she saw Jeff walking towards their table followed closely by Shane Helms.

"What are you giggling about?" Jeff took a seat next to Rhiannon and served them both a good-natured grin as Shane sat next to Kiara.

"Oh, we were just discussing my mother's "in-ring" talent." Kiara replied dryly and Shane chuckled at her tone.

"Kiara! We were not, you put words into my mouth young lady." Rhian scolded gently, trying to hide a smile.

"Well, considering the fact that she's only had one or two singles matches in over a year, I don't think the powers that be consider her to be all that talented in the ring either." Jeff told his friend honestly, and she tried to look annoyed as she defended her sister.

"She not all that bad. Her real problem is that she relies too heavily on the other person she's wrestling with to, um, choreograph the match..." She looked a bit sheepish as she said this, realising that she was just illustrating their point.

"Yes dear, whatever you say." Jeff grinned at Shane, who just shrugged his shoulders, looking warily at the young woman who sat across from him as if he had something to say but didn't know how to say it.

"Is there any particular reason why you're staring at me Shane?" Rhiannon asked in a quiet voice a few moments later, not very comfortable with the attention.

"Do you have any idea what's being planned for you?" Shane asked directly, deciding to find out exactly what she'd been told.

"No. I'm meeting with the writers tomorrow. Why's that?"

"Well, I've been asked whether I'd like a new sidekick." He replied hesitantly, and Rhiannon raised an eyebrow.

"Really? How nice." It wasn't the response that Shane had expected and didn't know quite how to reply. Jeff looked between the two in confusion.

"Um, I think he meant..." Jeff started, but was cut off from finishing by Rhiannon.

"Yes, I know what he meant." She giggled and winked at Kiara, who had started laughing too. "Sorry Shane, I was just playing."

"Strange game." He mumbled, slightly confused by her sudden personality change.

"I'm just teaching Kiara how to keep people at arms length if she doesn't like them. It's something we've been working on for a while." She explained, looking a bit apologetic and Shane frowned, not sure how he felt about the information.

"So, what are you saying? You don't like me?"

"Not at all." Rhiannon shrugged coyly. "I just needed a test subject." She grinned cheekily at Shane, who just shook his head, confused and intrigued by this strange woman. But all of a sudden, her smile faded and her emerald eyes turned cold. He turned around to see what the problem was and spied Imogen marching resolutely towards their table.

"Kiara! I thought I told you to be up at our room an hour ago." Imogen fumed quietly as she reached her daughter and Kiara's eyes narrowed, irritated by the lie that her mother told just to get her away from Rhian. She stole a quick glance at Rhiannon who was observing Imogen with a raised eyebrow; it was obvious that she knew what her sister was up to as well.

"No mother, that was at the last hotel." She replied sharply, before her expression changed to one of concern. "I really think you need to take better care of yourself, your memory's been slipping quite a bit lately. Maybe all that fast living is finally catching up with you." Imogen's breath caught in her throat and she had to stop herself from slapping the smirk off her daughter's face.

"If you continue to speak to me that way, I will make sure you don't leave the room at all, young lady. Now go." She instructed her daughter coldly, avoiding looking at anyone else, expecially Rhiannon.

"Fine." Kiara sighed, slowly rising from the table and gathering her books. "I'll see you tomorrow guys." She forced a smile at Rhiannon, Jeff and Shane as she walked away from the table. Imogen smiled briefly at Shane and Jeff before following Kiara out of the restaurant.

Shane took a minute to get his thoughts in order before he turned to look at Rhiannon. She was still staring at the spot her sister had been standing moments before, her expression guarded.

"I've seen your sister in a feral mood before, but never like that. Did you two have an argument or something?" He asked, snapping Rhiannon out of her musings. She glanced at Jeff with a questioning look and he just shook his head.

"I suppose you could say it's a carry over from an argument we had a year or so ago. We haven't really sorted it out yet." She sighed, flicking a stray strand of strawberry blonde hair out of her eyes.

"And Kiara's the one suffering for it?" He asked bluntly, then silently cursed himself as Jeff shot him an angry look and he realised he'd put his foot in his mouth. But strangely, rather than being upset, Rhiannon's lips twitched at the corners and she looked Shane over. He was the first person she'd met in the locker room that hadn't skirted around the issue of Imogen and Rhian's obvious issues. She was intrigued to see this opinionated side of Shane, who usually kept to himself.

"Kiara's always been the one suffering because of her mother's selfishness." Jeff jumped in before Rhiannon could answer, surprising both of his companions with the conviction of his statement.

"Ah, come on Jeff, you know I haven't made much of an effort to fix things either." She chided gently after a moment and Jeff snorted.

"Do you really think she'd listen?" He posed the question quite calmly and Rhian just shrugged with a bitter smile.

"I know she wouldn't. But I have to at least try, for Kiara's sake...the reason I found Shane's observation so interesting is that I was just considering how I could fix things for that very reason. I only came back to the business to make sure Kiara was happy and being taken care of. Well, I don't think her mother and I always being at each other's throats is going to make things very comfortable for her. I have a responsibility to change that." She told Jeff quietly, her expression pensive, as it always was when she was making a serious decision.

"Goddamn it Rhiannon, you're not the one who was in the wrong. I saw what happened and I saw what Imogen's actions did to you and to Kiara. She should be the one apologising, not you."

"Maybe. But I didn't handle things very well when it came down to the crunch. I need to take responsibility for that." When Jeff shook his head in disagreement, Rhiannon placed a firm hand on his arm to make him stop and listen. "Not everything is black and white Jeff. I need to do this. For Kiara." She looked into his eyes, sending a silent plea for support, and after a moment he sighed in frustration. Jeff knew Rhiannon was right, but he still couldn't help resenting Imogen for the lives she'd almost ruined through her selfish actions.

"Fine. But you can tell Kylie your plans yourself. There's no way I'm gettin' in trouble for this one." He grumbled, hiding a grin at her obvious relief.

"Of course dear." She smiled gratefully at him before standing and getting herself ready to go and face the music. Shane looked at both of them in amazement, a little bit confused by their resolve and shocked that Rhiannon hadn't had a go at him for sticking his nose into her business. Rhian glanced down to see him staring at her through narrowed eyes.

"Look Shane, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but if you don't mind I really think I'd enjoy working with you. Do you think we could discuss it sometime soon?" Rhian asked, her deep emerald eyes staring unwaveringly into his dark brown ones, and Shane felt his breath catch in his chest as she smiled. For the first time, he realised just how pretty this young woman really was.

"Yeah, why not? How about we meet at the arena after the show tomorrow?" Shane asked quickly, swallowing his sudden nervousness as her smile widened.

"Sounds great. I gotta run, so I'll see you then." She turned to Jeff and her smile suddenly turned cheeky. "I promise I'll make sure Kylie doesn't yell at you too much when she finds out what you let me do. Bye." She waved back at them as she ran out the door and Jeff looked at Shane with a look of pity in his eyes.

"It sort of just hits you doesn't it?"

"Huh?" Shane snapped out of his stunned daze to look at his friend.

"It just sort of hits you all of a sudden that she is actually beautiful. Just because she looks nothing like Imogen and doesn't wear a ton of make-up a lot of people don't notice it at first...then it just seems to appear out of nowhere. I was lucky. I'm not actually attracted to her. I don't think I can say the same for you though." Jeff suppressed a chuckle as he saw how annoyed Shane was by the observation.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jeff. I'm not attracted to her in the least." He snapped, pretending to study the pictures hanging on the café walls just so he didn't have to look at the smug grin on his friend's face.

"Well, I guess that's a good thing when you think about it." Its not that Jeff believed Shane's denial, but a thought had just occurred him that made him realise it would probably be better if Shane weren't interested in Rhiannon.

"Why's that?" Shane sighed, trying not to seem too curious, but when Jeff didn't answer he looked up to see his friend staring at him in amusement.

"Well, I'm not really supposed to tell you. I mean, Kylie and I are the only ones who know about it..."

"Will you just spit it out Jeff. What are you so concerned about?"

"Well, I really hope you don't have feelings for my sister, for your sake, since I just found out she's seeing none other than Kevin Fertig." Shane's jaw dropped in shock and it took him a few minutes to find his voice.

"Are you serious? She's actually seeing..."

"Oh yes, Rhiannon's dating the WWE's newest star: Mordecai."

* * *

After much deliberation, I decided to cut out the roster split from this and mostly only use made up storylines concentrating on the characters that are really central to this story...if that makes sense. Eh, I don't care if it doesn't...it's I've been up since 6 am and it's now 1am and I'm exhausted, so sue me! LOL

Besides, I like making up my own WWE storylines...most of them seem (to me anyway) much more interesting than some of the stuff they're coming up with lately...lol

Anyway, please review my story...reviews make me happy. And I like being happy. Most of the time, anyway. ;o)

Take care!


	21. Demons

Rhiannon took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she knocked on the door of Imogen's hotel room. As the door opened to reveal Matt Hardy wearing nothing but a towel, she made sure to keep her expression neutral and her eyes fixed on his face. Rather than seeming embarrassed, a cheeky smile crossed his face as he leaned against the doorframe, blocking her view of the room.

"Well, Rhiannon, what a pleasant surprise." Matt asked, his southern drawl seeming more accented than usual and Rhian had to fight not to roll her eyes.

_Who does this guy think he is? Brad Pitt?_

"Do you always walk around in front of my niece half naked?" She asked, disapproval echoing in her voice and Matt's grin widened.

"No, Kiara's not actually here right now. But I hope you don't have a problem with me walking around half naked in front of your sister?"

"Only half?" She asked dryly with no hint of humour and he chuckled slightly in surprised approval; Rhiannon knew this was a game, she could see it in his eyes and she also knew that if she didn't give a little leeway she wouldn't get anywhere. When someone cleared their throat loudly somewhere behind Matt, he glanced back and rolled his eyes.

"So, what can I do for you Rhiannon?"

"I'd like to speak to my sister, if its not too much trouble." She requested coldly. There was no way she'd give Matt the satisfaction of thinking she was in any way impressed by him, even if he did have a body to die for.

"Well, I'll have to ask her first, we're a little busy right now..." He raised his eyebrows suggestively, looking slightly regretful, and she felt her temper stretch to breaking point.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I don't think I quite phrased that right..." She placed a finger to her lips, trying to find the right way to put it. "What I should have said was: I am going to speak to my sister. In fact, I'm going to come inside right now so that Imogen and I can have a little chat. I don't care what you two were doing or were about to do. This is important and I won't put it off any longer." She smiled at him sweetly and tilted her head to the side. "Is that somewhat clearer?"

"Let her in." Imogen called from inside the room and Matt's expression changed from apprehensive to suddenly relieved as he stepped back from the doorway to allow her in.

Imogen was sitting on the couch wearing a bathrobe, her long blonde hair slightly tousled and a feral look in her hazel eyes. Imogen waited until Matt had disappeared quietly into the bathroom before she addressed her sister.

"Make it quick Rhian, I don't have all day." Imogen said coldly, Rhiannon realised that she was trying to get the upper hand before things got heated and she smiled lazily.

"Don't worry dear. I'm not here to argue." She informed her sister mildly, but Imogen didn't fail to miss the dangerous tone in her softly spoken greeting and straightened to attention.

"What do you want?" Imogen had to admit that she was somewhat surprised when Rhiannon had turned up, especially after she had obviously shown her sister that she wanted nothing to do with her.

"I want to call a truce." Imogen's eyes widened slightly as Rhiannon continued. "We've been at each other's throats for years and I'm tired of it. It's time we both started acting like responsible adults and deal with the situation." She issued the challenge and Imogen laughed at the familiar tactic.

"You always knew how to goad me into agreeing with you." Rhiannon shrugged and sat down next to her sister.

"And you always knew how to piss me off, but I have to get over it." Imogen felt her temper rise and forced herself to push it down; now was not the time to get into that.

"So, how do you propose we start? Family therapy?" She asked sarcastically and Rhiannon's gaze once again turned cold as she glared at Imogen. "Alright, sorry, I just don't see how we can do this." 

"Well, if you don't see where we went wrong, obviously I'm wasting my time here." Rhiannon told her sister quietly, before standing and making her way towards the door.

"Oh for god's sake Rhian, we both know that if you hadn't tried to undermine my authority with Kiara we wouldn't be in this mess." Imogen spat, tired of her sister's disdain of her. Rhiannon was always acting like she was superior to everyone around her and she was sick of it!

"Oh really? Had you ever thought that maybe if you had made more time for your daughter before this, she wouldn't resent you so much?" Rhiannon span around to face her sister, her eyes blazing with anger. "Or that if you hadn't been such a complete and utter slut before I left Ireland, that maybe I'd have some respect for you? Because what you just said is complete bullshit and you goddamn know it! Our problems started way before Kiara was even born..."

"Don't you dare bring that into it Rhiannon." Imogen warned, springing up to stand over her sister, so angry that she could hardly breathe. "We left that life behind, we both changed!"

"Yeah, you're damn right I changed! I let you bully me into giving up my dreams because you wanted the spotlight all to yourself, as always! Didn't you get enough attention from our parents? And what about all the boys lining up at your bedroom door," Matt, who was now dressed, heard Imogen scream out a curse and hurried out of the bathroom to see what was going on. Imogen was standing over Rhiannon, breathing heavily and staring in disbelief at her sister. Rhian on the other hand was glaring up at her elder sister with a spiteful expression. He was shocked to see her face scratched and bleeding. "Weren't they enough for you, Imogen? Even when you got knocked up by some guy; You didn't even know who he was, did you? Even then, our parents still loved you and cared for you. They weren't ashamed of you...never ashamed of you! But me? I always got punished for what _she _did. And you knew...but you never protected me...never helped me. Not once!" Rhiannon cried, her voice shaking with emotion. "I still have the scars, Imogen. They never went away, not like you said they would." She said sarcastically, but Matt's heart wrenched as he saw the pain written all over Rhiannon's face. He slowly looked to Imogen and was surprised to see the guilt and self-loathing in her dark eyes. He shut the bathroom door, just loud enough to get their attention and Imogen looked up at him in surprise. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to her sister who had also recovered somewhat with Matt's reappearance.

"I don't have to listen to this, Rhiannon..." Imogen whispered, blocking the horrible memories from her mind. Rhiannon just smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"You always took from me, Imogen. But I'm not going to let you do it anymore. Now, obviously you don't want to hear what I have to say, so there's no point in continuing this. I'll see you around." She nodded to Matt as she left the room. He stood staring in confusion at the door for a moment before looking to his girlfriend.

"What was that about Imogen?" He demanded but Imogen just stared at the closed door in shock.

"She didn't stop me." Imogen whispered, looking at her hands, eyes wide with horror.

"Imogen, what is going on? What scars is she talking about?" Matt started towards Imogen, concerned about her behaviour, but Imogen stepped back and turned away ashamed.

"Leave me alone Matt."

"But Imogen..."

"Just go. Don't speak to me anymore." Matt stared at his girlfriend for a few minutes, but when she didn't speak, he just grabbed his coat and walked out of the room.

* * *

Well, there's another chapter up!

Thanks to **coors1977** and **Phoenix Satori** (as always grins) for reviewing and I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and that it wasn't too confusing. There are lots of things yet to be revealed, as I'm sure you can tell.

(Again, Please Review!!! Thanks!)


	22. Surprises galore

Jeff cursed himself for not checking in on Rhiannon the night before. He should have known something would happen between the sisters...and after what Matt had described to him, it sounded like whatever it was, was pretty significant. He was now searching the halls of the Gund Arena for her, worried that she might not even turn up after the disastrous meeting yesterday.

"Rhiannon!" He called with relief as he saw the strawberry blonde walking ahead of him. As he caught up to Rhian, she turned slightly to greet him.

"I'm running late Jeff. I have a meeting with Brian Gerwitz about what to do with my character." She told him bluntly.

"Are you okay? Matt told me about the argument you had with Imogen last night."

"I'm a big girl Jeff, I can take care of myself."

"Well, apparently Imogen isn't taking it as well as you are. She hasn't said a word to anybody since she saw you, according to Matt." Rhiannon sighed impatiently and picked up speed.

"Typical Imogen. Always a drama queen." As Rhiannon flicked her hair out of her face, Jeff got a fleeting glance at her right cheek.

"Rhian!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot and puffy. "What the hell happened?"

"Obviously Matt didn't tell you everything." She replied dryly, looking down at the ground. "Imogen hit me, but I did goad her into it, I guess." Jeff lifted her face up to get a better view and almost cursed out loud when he saw the damage Imogen had done.

"I'm guessing it was a back-hander." He said dryly, taking note of the deep scratches on her cheek.

"Yeah, well you've seen all the rings she wears." Rhiannon chuckled as she started walking again. "But, like I said, I did push her to it."

"What the hell did you say to Imogen to make her react like that Rhian?" Jeff asked in amazement and Rhiannon's expression went blank.

"What she didn't want to hear. The truth." She replied coldly, obviously not wanting to answer the question, but Jeff wasn't about to give up.

"The truth? Which is?"

"Not your business." Rhian told Jeff, a tiny smile gracing her lips. "I'm dealing with it. Don't worry. Now, I really have to get to this meeting."

"What did you mean when you said you still had the scars?" He asked bluntly, at least wanting an answer to that. She paused slightly, her brow creasing in confusion. "Matt told me what you said to Imogen. "The scars never went away..." What scars Rhiannon?"

A fleeting expression of panic crossed Rhiannon's face, which only served to make Jeff more concerned and curious about what had happened to her in the past. But despite the curiosity he felt, Jeff was still afraid of the answers he might get.

"Oh. Well, look where we've ended up." Rhiannon stopped outside an unmarked office door with an air of obvious relief as she reached out to knock. "I'll catch you later sweetie!" Rhiannon shot Jeff a cheeky grin, as she was permitted entry into the office.

Jeff could only shake his head in annoyance as Rhian disappeared. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Sis." Jeff muttered to himself as he walked away.

* * *

Brian Gerwitz greeted Rhiannon eagerly, _almost excitedly_, she noted warily as he led her to a seat opposite his in the small locker-room cum office. 

"Now, Rhiannon, Shane Helms has told us that you'd be willing to work with him, which is fantastic. I have a few ideas to run through with you, but there's something..." Brian's voice trailed off as he noticed the bruises on her cheek and his eyes narrowed. "What the hell happened to your face?" A wry smile crossed Rhiannon's features as she lifted a hand to her cheek.

"I got carried away during practice." She gave him her rehearsed answer and shrugged her shoulders carelessly and flicked her strawberry blonde hair out of her eyes. "It was an accident." Brian was slightly unsatisfied with the answer and had his suspicions about where the bruises had really come from. But now was not the time to get into it...He would tell Vince about it later so he could get someone to deal with the problem.

"Okay. So, your character. We were looking through some of your old tapes and came across something of interest." Rhiannon closed her eyes and stifled a groan. How could she have not seen this coming?

"We think that your best character so far has been The Sadist. We'd like you to reprise that role, but with a bit of a twist." Rhiannon straightened slightly, suddenly interested in what Brian was proposing.

"What kind of twist are you talking about?"

"Well, rather than having your character cruel and...unmerciful for no reason, we decided to give Gypsy a reason..."

"Gypsy?" Rhiannon exclaimed looking at Brian like he'd just grown two heads. 

"Yeah, we were thinking that could be your character's name. Do you like it?"

"Uh, sure...it's not hideous, I guess." She blinked, looking a bit stunned and Brian took a deep breath.

"Rhian, I know that this seems to be moving a bit fast, but we need you in the ring as soon as possible. Can you handle that?"

"Of course. The name is just going to take a bit of getting used to is all." Rhian replied with a frown, feeling slightly disoriented from all the sudden ideas being thrown at her.

"Good. Now, motive, right? We're going to bring you in as Imogen's sister...I know, not really original, but we need to connect you two for this to work. Now, someone's going to start targeting _her_ to get to _you_ soon after you arrive. We haven't created a history for that yet, but we're working on it."

Rhiannon was struggling to keep up with all this information and sat forward slightly as Brian continued to explain the angle he was proposing.

"Shane "Hurricane" Helms will come in as a sort of unofficial bodyguard, popping up wherever there's danger, blah, blah, blah. One day he'll fail and you will find Imogen seriously injured somewhere which in turn, will bring out the Sadist. That way, we have the excuse we need to make you a complete psycho bitch _and_ send Imogen back to OVW for some extra conditioning at the same time." Rhiannon almost fell out of her chair in horror as that little piece of information sunk in.

"WHAT? You're going to use me as an excuse to send my sister, who hates my guts, back to OVW? Are you all insane?" The words had flown right out of Rhiannon's mouth before she could stop them and she clamped her teeth down on her lower lip, cursing herself for her stupidity.

Rhiannon had promised herself before she'd started in the WWE that she wouldn't let this shit interfere in her professional life. Yet here she was, blurting out something like that to one of the top writers in the company. She could have hit herself.

"Look, the fact that you and Imogen have not been getting along very well is no secret. Imogen's been trying to spread rumours about your work ethic since you began, but fortunately Jeff and Shannon Moore have been working hard to nip that in the bud." Rhiannon was shocked and slightly angry that Jeff had kept this from her, but kept quiet as Brian continued. "Anyway, you've proven yourself to be a fantastic worker time and time again, and that has shown people that Imogen is spreading these rumours because she feels threatened by you. So, it's backfired on her and she has to deal with the consequences. Don't stress about it."

"Why wasn't I told about this?" She asked, looking distressed and sounding slightly hurt. Brian just smiled gently, sensing that what she needed right now was some reassurance about her position in the company. They wanted a real woman wrestler right now, and he believed that this woman could be the next big thing. There was nothing fake about Rhiannon; She was naturally beautiful and could be tough when the situation called for it. He felt that a lot of women would relate to her. The men on the other hand might need a bit of convincing, but once they "sexed-up" her image a bit, he knew that they would definitely be won over.

"You didn't need to know about all of that. It would have distracted you. Now, let's just concentrate on this, shall we?" Brian looked back down at the piece of paper that lay in front of him. "Just remember that we're not sure how we're going to work this part of it just yet, but the person - or people - that you're going to feud with will eventually turn you to their side. We're really looking forward to creating this angle, it's going to be a challenge, but if it works out...trust me, it'll be explosive." He smiled, obviously excited about the new project. "So, would you like to know who you're going to be feuding with?"

Rhiannon nodded, interested to know who the hell besides Shane would actually agree to work with her. "I've spoken to the group, well, actually...one of the guys in the group spoke to me about you first, he's very impressed by your work ethic and talent in the ring." Rhiannon raised an eyebrow in anticipation, silently willing him to continue. "So...to put you out of your misery, we've decided to place you with Evolution."

* * *

I hope this seems even slightly believable, even though Evolution and women prolly don't mix too well in a working sense, I just couldn't think of anything else to do with Rhian at the time. I haven't been keeping up with storylines as much as I used to. LOL. 

In any case, I'll try to make it as readable as possible.

Thanks to Phoenix Satori for the review! It's always nice to get feedback from you (and anyone else out there who may be reading this! _hint hint _LOL).

Take care all!


	23. Sinking In

Just a quick recap before we begin...

_

* * *

_

_"Just remember that we're not sure how we're going to work this part of it just yet, but the person - or people - that you're going to feud with will eventually turn you to their side. We're really looking forward to creating this angle, it's going to be a challenge, but if it works out...trust me, it'll be explosive." He smiled, obviously excited about the new project. "So, would you like to know who you're going to be feuding with?" _

_Rhiannon nodded, interested to know who the hell besides Shane would actually agree to work with her. "I've spoken to the group, well, actually...one of the guys in the group spoke to me about you first, he's very impressed by your work ethic and talent in the ring." Rhiannon raised an eyebrow in anticipation, silently willing him to continue. "So...to put you out of your misery, we've decided to place you with Evolution."_

* * *

"Huh?" Rhiannon's jaw dropped and Brian laughed at her stunned expression.

"Hunter came to me a week ago telling me that he thought they could find a place for you in the group if what Tomko and Fertig said about you was true. So, I looked up some of your old tapes, found the Sadist character, showed it to Hunter and he immediately agreed to take you under his wing. I also spoke to Randy Orton and he agreed to be the main instigator in regards to targeting Imogen, but it will be The Game, Triple H, who will eventually draw the Sadist out. They don't call him the Cerebral Assassin for nothing." Brian grinned as Rhian continued to look stunned. Finally, she found her tongue and asked one of the questions that was bothering her the most.

"What about all of the girls who have worked here longer than me? Don't they deserve a chance in the top group?"

"None of them really have workable characters for this. And besides, this angle will be lasting a few months. You won't be thrust right into it. Trust me Rhiannon, you will earn your spot."

"Okay, but the other thing I'm concerned about is the Sadist character. Women refused to wrestle me in OVW because they were intimidated by it and one or two men felt the same. What if that happens here?"

"Don't worry, Tyson told us about that. He said that you were a fantastic actress and that was the end of it. You never hurt anybody and you never lost control. You're not afraid of losing control, are you?"

"Of course not." She scoffed, looking offended, "I'm just worried that my career will suffer because of the character, that's all."

"Trust me, they're all professionals here. Once they understand the character, there won't be a problem." He sat quietly for a moment, giving her some time to process the information. "So, what do you think?"

"Well, I'm a bit blown away but," A smile spread across her face, "I'm really excited too."

"Fantastic. Now all you have to do is meet with Shane. I've given him a few ideas so he can discuss them with you. You won't need to work things out with Evolution for at least a couple of weeks, so don't worry about that yet. Now, unless you have any other questions, I have to be on my way. Got lots to do tonight."

"No, I don't think so. Thank you." She chuckled as Brian showed her to the door.

"No, thank you, Rhiannon. It took a while, but we got there in the end. I think this is really going to work."

Rhiannon stood outside the closed door for a few moments, processing all the information she'd been given, and started walking away with a sigh.

_Now all I have to do is convince Imogen I had nothing to do with her being demoted..._

* * *

And since this was such a short chapter, I'm off to post the next one now... :o)


	24. Surprise house call

Thanks to **PhoenixSatori** and **Coors1977** for the reviews on the chapter before last...I really do appreciate the feedback from everybody. It's a lot of fun writing these stories and it's nice to know that others are enjoying them also.

Anyway, enough of that, on with this chapter... :o)

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It was after eleven and Shane, Jeff and Rhiannon were in her small hotel room, chatting about the day's events, eating junk food and trying to unwind. Jeff had been proudly boasting to Shane about what Brian had planned for Rhiannon and how everyone was saying that she could be "the Next Big Thing" in women's wrestling. Unaccustomed to such praise, Rhiannon was visibly embarrassed about the whole thing and kept hitting Jeff between the eyes with various pieces of food whenever she felt he was getting carried away...Until he started telling Shane about the Sadist character. At that point she had glowered at him and stalked into the small kitchenette, muttering something under her breath that the guys couldn't quite catch.

"The Sadist?" Shane stared up at Rhiannon, bemused, as she returned with three cans of soda. "What did you do? Chain people up and torture them into submission?" He asked with a grin and Rhian gave him a flat, unfriendly stare and seemed about to retort when Jeff jumped in again.

"Don't laugh Shane. They had to drop the character after a month 'cause everyone was too scared to work with her. Apparently there was something creepy about the way she looked at them when she was in character. But personally, I think Rhiannon herself is scarier than any "Sadist" when she's in one of her moods!" Jeff informed Shane, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice and Rhiannon grimaced, throwing the piece of candy she had been about to eat at him. "Will you quit that!" Jeff pouted as he rubbed his forehead where the candy had hit. "I'm just telling it as I see it."

"Well, I'm sure Shane will be able to judge it for himself when I finally reprise the character. I was hoping to put the whole Sadist thing behind me, but apparently that won't be happening now." Rhian admitted wryly and leaned back into the couch, taking another handful of sweets. "So, what's the plan Hurricane? Got anything in mind about our storyline?" She turned her attention to Shane, hoping that he had some ideas. It was late and she wanted to get some sleep.

"I don't know, I think the writers have really pretty much covered most of it, but I really think that we should get in the ring soon and maybe spar a bit, just so that we get to learn each other's styles and things flow smoothly when we work together." Shane replied hopefully and was relieved when Rhiannon nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Oh, absolutely. I guess that's a given, we'll just have to work out times and such." She paused for a minute, looking slightly thoughtful. "But I have to admit, I'm a bit confused. The writers seem to be so caught up in the Sadist character that they've neglected to tell me how this "Gypsy" is supposed to work. I don't even know if they've really thought about it. I think I'll have to work most of that character out on my own."

"Why worry? You've never had a problem with character development before. It seems to be one of your strongest points." Jeff piped up with a shrug, making Rhiannon smile.

"That's not what I'm concerned about. If Shane and I are going to be working so closely together, we're going to have to figure out how our characters are going to interact with each other. Since Gypsy comes first, doesn't it make sense for me to have that character figured out before we start working on ideas?"

"Oh. I see your point." Jeff frowned, looking pensively at the soda sitting in front of him, his face twisted in concentration.

"Maybe she could be completely opposite to the Sadist." Rhiannon mused to Shane, knowing that in his current state, Jeff wouldn't be listening to a word she said. "That way, it'll be more of a shock when she changes."

All of a sudden a loud ringtone sounded in the room, making all three almost jump out of their skin. Recognising the ring, Jeff sprang up from his seat on the floor and spent a few moments fumbling around his baggy jeans pocket for his phone. A smile spread over his face as he recognised the caller and he looked up at his friends.

"It's Kylie. I'm gonna take this to my room. Night!"

For a few minutes after Jeff had gone, Shane and Rhiannon sat silently. Rhiannon was considering what to do with this character, but Shane was quiet for another reason. This was the first time he'd ever been alone with Rhiannon and as much as he'd tried to deny it to himself, and Jeff, Rhiannon had been driving him to distraction. And watching her now, he felt a strange fluttering in his stomach, as he did every time she was near. The way her emerald eyes were staring into space, as though she was searching for something that no one else could see made Shane wish that he could read her mind. A small smile played on her lips and she absently tucked a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear and he kept catching the sweet, subtle scent of the perfume she wore; it was intoxicating. He just wished that he had a reason to move closer...

At that moment there was an insistent knocking at the door, which stunned them both out of their respective reveries. Rhiannon glanced at Shane apologetically and rose to answer it. His heart sank suddenly as he saw the man on the other side of the door towering above Rhiannon.

"What are you doing here?" Rhiannon smiled happily as she looked up at the face of her new flame, Kevin Fertig. He was supposed to be in Kentucky until late next week, so Rhian was shocked to see him.

"I wanted to surprise you." He replied gruffly, his eyes moving slowly, almost accusingly, from Rhiannon to Shane, who was looking decidedly nervous.

"Oh lord," Rhiannon rolled her eyes and took Kevin's hand, dragging him into the room and closing the door. "Shane and I are going to be working together and this is the only time we could organise to talk about our storyline." She explained with an easy smile. "You two have met, right?" Shane nodded carefully, forcing a smile onto his face as he held a hand out to greet the hostile man in front of him.

"Kevin, good to see you again." Kevin's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he were measuring up whether Shane was being sincere, before he finally took the hand being offered and nodded curtly.

"You too." He replied, not sounding all that enthusiastic. It wasn't that Kevin didn't trust Rhiannon; he just didn't like the fact that she had another man in her hotel room at a quarter to midnight.

After a few moments of nervous silence, Rhiannon decided to put them all out of their misery.

"Look, Shane, Kevin and I have a lot to catch up on. What do you say we wing it for now? I still need to put some more thought into my character anyway." She looked at Shane pleadingly, hoping that he wouldn't mind too much. Rhiannon felt bad just leaving him in the lurch like that, but Kevin was obviously not impressed and she desperately wanted to smooth things over before she collapsed with exhaustion.

"Alright, Rhian...just let me know when you've figured out what you're doing. And don't forget that we need to work out a time to get together in the ring so we can practice." He smiled wearily, making his way towards the door, feeling a bit dejected. "Have a good night guys."

Rhiannon quickly glanced at Kevin, silently begging him to be patient just a little longer, and followed Shane to the door.

"I am sorry Shane, but he gets jealous, you know?" She whispered so that even he could hardly hear her, then raised her voice back to its normal level as she continued. "We will work this out, I promise. But I need you to promise me one thing."

"And what would that be?" He asked, concerned by the panicked look on Rhiannon's face.

"Well, um, it must be kind of obvious that Kevin and I are...uh...seeing each other." She said hesitantly, seeming a bit embarrassed and Shane's eyes widened; he'd forgotten that he wasn't supposed to know about that. Thank god he hadn't put his foot in it. Jeff would really have been in trouble then!

'Uh, well..."

"It's just we're trying to keep the whole thing low key, you know?" She told him nervously, her eyes lowered to the ground, and Shane had the momentary impulse to reach out and lift up Rhian's face up so that he could look into her deep, emerald eyes. Luckily he curbed the impulse before it really took hold, since Kevin was watching them like a hawk.

"I won't tell anyone Rhian. I swear." He told her sincerely and she finally looked up at him with a relieved smile.

"Thank you."

Shane left without further incident and as Rhiannon shut the door behind him, she turned to Kevin, her eyes narrowed.

"Are we going to argue about this?" She asked ominously and Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"About what?" He asked mildly, taking a seat on the end of Rhiannon's double bed.

"Shane and I are _working _together. And he's my friend. I don't appreciate you coming into my living space and making my friends feel uncomfortable." Kevin's eyes flashed suddenly as he stood up again.

"Well I'm sorry, but how do you think I feel coming to surprise my girlfriend in her hotel room - in the middle of the night - and finding some other guy in here, Rhiannon?" He snapped and a shocked growl escaped Rhiannon's throat.

"What have I ever done to make you distrust me, Kevin? What?" She looked so hurt that any angry words or thoughts Kevin had died on his tongue.

"It's not you I don't trust." Kevin told her, his expression softening and seeing Rhiannon raise an eyebrow, a sheepish grin formed on his lips. "I just know what some of these guys are like." She felt a twinge of annoyance at his inference and placed her hands on her hips.

"Shane is nothing like that, he's my friend. And as for those other guys, I can take care of myself." Rhiannon informed Kevin huffily and he had to fight to keep a straight face; they'd had this argument many time and he knew she was right, but it didn't stop him worrying anyway.

"Oh Rhian, you should know by now that it's not you I'm worried about. If you start maiming half the locker room and people find out we're together I'm the one who's going to cop it." Rhiannon couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips as Kevin sat back down on the bed. "I'm sorry Rhiannon, I was stupid." He shrugged with an apologetic smile and Rhiannon dropped her hands to her sides as she slowly made her way over to the bed.

"Yes, you were." She agreed slowly, her expression still somewhat amused as he reached out and pulled her close to him.

"Can you forgive me?" Kevin asked huskily as Rhiannon climbed onto the bed with him, straddling his lap. She reached up softly traced a finger down the side of his face and down his neck until she reached the collar of his shirt.

"That all depends." She replied, slightly pouting as a smile tugged on the corners of his lips.

"On what?" A mischievous glint suddenly appeared in Rhiannon's eyes and she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and examining his new white-blonde hair as if she had only just noticed it.

"Well, I'll only forgive you if you promise me you'll un-bleach your eyebrows as soon as possible. They're really starting to freak me out."

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Well, there's Kevin for you. Hope you're not too disappointed. lol

As always, please review, and hopefully I will be able to update soon.

Take care! :o)


	25. Confrontation

Again, thanks to **Phoenix Satori** and **Coors1977** for reviewing the story, I'm glad you are both enjoying it. (BTW, when are you two going to update your stories? I'm hanging out here! LOL)

Anyway, this will (hopefully) start running at a slightly faster pace from the next chapter on, not too much, but just enough so that things don't get (too) boring. :o)

Here we go again...

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"Did you and Mom have another fight?"

Kiara cornered Rhiannon the next night just after Rhiannon's first match with Gail Kim at a house show.

"We had a disagreement, but I'm sure it'll blow over." Rhiannon told her niece cautiously as they took a seat in the cafeteria. "Why's that?"

"She's been really quiet for the past few days. And all she and Matt are doing is fighting. Some of the things he's asked her kinda made me think that it's because of you." The girl shrugged, resting her chin on her hands as she gazed up at Rhiannon.

"Oh." Rhiannon had begun to feel a bit guilty about some of the things she'd said to her sister that day. It seemed that the more her bruises began to fade, the more her heart ached with regret. She shouldn't have let her emotions get the better of her. And she certainly shouldn't have tried to bring up the past with her sister. It was like trying to talk to a brick wall.

"I think Mom feels guilty about something, but I don't know what it is." Kiara informed her aunt, fishing for information. She knew something had big had happened between Rhiannon and Imogen before she was born, but neither of them ever talked about it.

"It doesn't matter Kiara. Your Mom and I will sort it out when she's ready." Rhiannon said firmly, not wanting to involve Kiara anymore than she already was. Kiara knew her aunt was only trying to protect her, but she was tired of being kept in the dark and she was definitely tired of being treated like a child.

"It does matter, Rhiannon. It matters to me because I'm the one who has to put up with Imogen's moods, not you." Kiara replied heatedly, and Rhiannon raised an eyebrow in disapproval. It had been a long time since Kiara had spoken to her like that, and knew it was a sign that her niece had run out of patience.

"Well, let me put it another way then. It's not my place to tell you about the problems your mother and I have. If I do, then things will only get worse for both of us. If you don't like that, take it up with Imogen."

Kiara's mouth opened to retort, but before she could, a pair of perfectly manicured hands slammed down on the table causing both Kiara and Rhiannon to jump. Kiara looked up to see Imogen, her face taught with anger, leaning over the table and staring intensely into Rhiannon's eyes.

"Leave now, Kiara." Her mother instructed coldly, and for once, Kiara did as she was told. There was something in Imogen's expression that frightened her and she didn't want to stick around to see what would happen next.

"What's the problem, Imogen?" Rhiannon asked, not intimidated in the least by her sister's display.

"You stole my spot, you ungrateful little bitch." Imogen said slowly, her voice shaking with anger and Rhiannon grimaced. She'd known this would happen, but had hoped that they'd deal with it privately.

Apparently not.

"I see you've spoken to management." Rhiannon replied quietly, not breaking eye contact with her sister.

"They're sending me back to OVW because of you and don't you try to deny it!" Imogen spat, her voice rising a few notches and Rhiannon shook her head incredulously.

"Because of me? They were going to send you back there anyway, no matter who they brought in from OVW. And as for being ungrateful, what exactly is it that I have to be grateful for? I gave you money Aunt Kath left to me in her will, which you didn't deserve, and let you live with me rent-free for nearly 10 years! I taught you the basics and gave you your start in this business, I got you a development deal with me in the beginning and I took care of your child when you wouldn't make any time for her. And now I've found out you've been spreading rumours about me behind my back -again - to try and get me to fail here! Now tell me again why the hell should I be grateful to you?" She hissed loud enough only for Imogen to hear, and her sister's face fell completely.

"So that's why you're trying to ruin my life? You're trying to get revenge by ruining my career, my relationship with Matt and trying to turn my daughter against me."

"Oh for god's sakes Imogen, stop being so paranoid. Management were planning to send you back to OVW over a month ago, but Victoria got injured so they had to put the plans on hold. I have no idea what's wrong with your relationship with Matt, so don't try and blame me for that. And as for your daughter, I've done nothing but try and fix your relationship, but you're both so stubborn you won't have a bar of it. I've always made excuses for your neglect of Kiara, but not anymore. You're a bad mother, Imogen. It's time you got your act together and started taking responsibility for what's gone wrong in your life instead of constantly trying to find someone else to blame. In short, it's time for you to grow up."

And with that, Rhiannon stood up and calmly walked away, leaving Imogen slumped over the table in shock.

* * *

Jeff stared at Rhiannon in horror as she told him the full story of what had happened with Imogen just moments before.

"Imogen accused you of trying to ruin her life? Is she blind or just stupid?" He asked with a smirk and Rhiannon sighed, taking a seat on the bench next to him.

"All I know is I'm walking away. I can't keep worrying about what she says and does anymore. Imogen's thirty-one years old now, she needs to start taking responsibility for her own actions. And I need to move on with my life." Rhiannon told Jeff decisively, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. As hard as the decision was, especially as it meant walking away from Kiara as well, it had to be done. Imogen had to learn there were consequences for what she did, but she never would learn if Rhiannon kept hanging around ready to come running every time something went wrong.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that out." Jeff said with a sad smile. "But what about Kiara?"

"I don't know. I'll keep in touch with her as much as I can, but she's not my daughter and I can't keep interfering in her life. It's just making things worse for all of us. Imogen wanted her as far away from me as possible, and she's getting her wish now. I only hope she starts being the mother Kiara needs." Rhiannon whispered, trying to blink back the tears that had begun to form in her eyes. "God, I'm going to miss that girl." Jeff wrapped an arm around Rhiannon's shoulders as she started to sob.

"I know, honey. I know."

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Another chapter down, God knows how many to go. LOL

Next chapter, you get to see things from a different perspective (guess who it is), so stick around for a startling revelation or two. I shall update within the next day or two.

And I appreciate the reviews I've been getting very much...but as usual, I'm going to ask for more. Just so I know whether or not I'm on the right track, of course. :winks:

Take care everybody! :runs away to update Stronger:


	26. Reflection

It was 3 am when Imogen slipped silently out of the bed she shared with Matt and made her way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Making sure she hadn't woken Matt or Kiara, Imogen moved to the couch and sat, not bothering to put on a light; she didn't need it.

Imogen had been thinking non-stop about some of the things Rhiannon had said to her over the past few days, about how selfish she had been...it was the only thing on her mind. She admitted to herself that the reason Rhiannon's words stung so much is because what she had said was all true.

Imogen knew Rhiannon was no angel herself. But, still, she had always felt inferior to her younger sister while they were growing up. Although Imogen always had their parent's constant approval, Rhiannon had struggled at home. She had always been rebellious, living her life her own way, not conforming to anyone else's expectations. It was something Imogen envied, and she did understand why Rhiannon had been like that. Although Rhian had usually outclassed Imogen, and most of their schoolmates, in anything she set her mind to, her parents never seemed to care.

Their mother always treated their younger daughter with an air of indifference, as though she was beneath her notice, and on a good day, her father did too. But on a bad day...

Imogen shuddered as the memories overwhelmed her once more and she forced them out of her mind.

They were all reasons she couldn't look her sister in the eye. Couldn't stand to be in the same room with her for longer than she had to be. She felt inferior. Inferior and guilty.

Sighing, Imogen rose from the couch and walked over to the window that overlooked the hotel pool. She gazed down at the view in an attempt to distract herself from the disturbing thoughts and memories flooding her mind. A shadow moving towards the pool caught Imogen's attention and she smiled as the faint light surrounding the pool revealed a couple meeting for an early morning rendezvous. Looking closer, she realised they looked quite familiar...at least the woman did, but the dim light made it difficult to tell who it was.

She looked back towards Matt, still sleeping soundly in their bed, and felt a pang of remorse. Matt was the only man she'd ever been with who accepted her fully. He didn't know everything, of course, but she'd let him get closer to her than any man she'd ever been with.

But she didn't love him. She never had and as time wore on it became painfully obvious to her that she never would.

Imogen found Matt attractive, of course; who wouldn't? He was a good lover and caring and sweet...but she'd never felt any sort of passion towards him. It was more like a warm familiarity that she found comforting. Imogen had meant to break up with him long ago, and now she wished she had, but most of the WWE roster was so close knit that if Imogen had broken up with him for no good reason, everyone would know about it. Everyone would have turned against her. It would have made working there impossible.

So, over the months Imogen had tried to find excuses to end the affair, but Matt never gave her any good reason. Firstly, she'd paid a gorgeous woman to seduce him, but Matt had turned her down flat. When she started constantly speaking about marriage and kids after they had only been together for a few months Matt just kissed her on the forehead and told her "One day". She'd introduced Matt to her sullen teenage daughter, also within the first few months of the relationship, knowing full well that Kiara wouldn't accept him as a father figure when she'd seen so many men come in and out of her mother's life. For some God unknown reason, Matt only doubled his efforts to make friends with Kiara and always took care of her while they were on the road. Eventually Kiara had accepted him as a friend, but Imogen knew she wouldn't get too close to him just in case he left too. The only other things she could think of was to flirt with his friends, but Matt had only laughed at her behaviour, trusting Imogen and his mates implicitly.

But when she had started flirting with his brother, knowing that Jeff had feelings for her, instead of breaking up with Imogen, Matt had cut himself off from his brother in a jealous rage.

Again, the guilt that she'd managed to keep hidden until Rhiannon had returned to her life came flooding back in full force. Even though things had worked out okay between Matt and Jeff, the amount of hurt she'd caused them and other people in the past, especially her own daughter, kept coming back to haunt her.

Imogen turned away from Matt and looked down onto the couple by the pool once again, softly laughing as she saw the man hoist the woman up by the waist and throw her, fully clothed, into the pool. As the woman pulled herself out of the water and faced the man, the light suddenly illuminated her face and Imogen gasped, taking a step back in surprise.

The sopping wet woman standing by the pool with the wry smile on her face was Rhiannon! How could she not have realised it was her own sister down by the pool? She was sure that Matt would recognise Jeff no matter how dark it was, and yet Imogen couldn't even identify her own sister when there was a faint light! Pain seared through her heart as she realised that she and Rhiannon had no connection anymore. The only family Imogen had left was a daughter who hated her guts. Not that she could blame her.

Imogen stepped towards the window once more to see if she recognised the man with her sister. Squinting closely, she was shocked to see Rhiannon in a passionate clinch with none other than Kevin Fertig.

_My God..._he was definitely not Rhiannon's type. What was going on there?

She shook her head, deciding that she'd never figure out why Rhiannon did the things she did and moved quietly away from the window. What she needed to do now was figure out how she could fix things. At least she knew where to start. Her gaze rested on Matt once more, and Imogen sadly acknowledged that the time had come to end things. She needed to set him free to live his life without deception. Without her. It would hurt him, Imogen knew that, but it was better to do it now before things got any more tangled.

And then, she would be free to try to re-build the relationship with Kiara. It wouldn't be easy, but she now realised that she wanted it more than anything. She would even give up her career if she had to.

Faint, familiar laughter from downstairs reached Imogen's ears and she felt a pang as she realised that it was probably too late to make it up to Rhiannon, but she knew that she had to try. She just had to be able to prove that she'd changed first...

For the first time in days, she felt a sincere smile touch her lips as she remembered a time when things were simple. When Rhiannon had looked up to Imogen as her big sister. Playing dress-up together. Teaching Rhiannon how to play Softball. Running around the back garden, secretly picking flowers from their mother's prize winning garden and then showing Rhiannon how to make daisy chains, earning them both a walloping when they were discovered.

Life had been perfect...up until the time that Imogen had entered her teenage years and found out the truth...

Imogen sternly pushed the memory out of her mind and thought back again to their childhood. Things were so good then, so simple. And as Imogen stood up and looked down at her sister's retreating form, Imogen vowed that one day, they would be that way again.

* * *

Thanks **Coors1977** and **Phoenix Satori** for reviewing. Reviews are nice. And I agree that Imogen did need a bit of a "bitchslap", but who knows? Maybe a leopard really can change its spots? What do you think?

Now for an experiment...maybe if I don't ask for any reviews, I'll get more? Let's just wait and see...hehehe

Take care!


	27. Games of the heart

Thank you to **Phoenix, Coors and Wipe Out** for reviewing.. :o) (Hey, I got one extra review this chapter, thanks Wipe Out, so my non-begging must be working! lol) I'm glad that someone is liking this story!

Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I just started a new job this week so I've been too exhausted to do anything but fall in a heap once I get home. lol I'll try not to be so slack from now on.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a hard one to write, but I think it turned out okay in the end.

Please R&R!

* * *

The next Sunday night, Rhiannon was curled up comfortably in Kevin's arms on the verge of slumber, when out of nowhere, a persistent rapping at the hotel door jolted her awake. She looked sleepily at the clock and groaned when she saw 2.01 am illuminated on the alarm clock on the bedside table.

"Who the hell is that?" Kevin asked grumpily as Rhiannon slowly dragged herself out of bed as the knocking continued.

"God only knows, but it better be important." She replied, no less annoyed than he was at the intrusion.

"Just ignore it. Maybe they'll go away." He mumbled, groping at Rhiannon as she left the bed and threw on her robe. She stumbled blindly towards the door, where the knocking continued with increased intensity. Frustrated, Rhiannon swung the door open, quickly ducking as a wayward fist came hurtling towards her head.

"Hey, watch it!" She snapped, glaring at the silhouette angrily, until she realised who it was. "What in the world are you doing here?" Rhiannon asked with a mixture of suspicion and disdain while Matt Hardy stood staring at her dumbly as she groped for a light switch. When he didn't answer right away, Rhiannon peered closely at the man, noticing that he was fighting back tears. "Hey, what's wrong?" Her entire demeanor changed as she saw how cut up he obviously was. His jaw was clenched with suppressed anger and tears and his normally gorgeous brown eyes were bloodshot from a combination of lack of sleep, alcohol and tears. She took a step closer, glancing behind her to make sure Kevin was still in bed. "Matt? You've woken me up at 2 am, obviously something's bothering you, will you just tell me what it is?" Rhiannon whispered, placing a comforting hand on his arm as he looked away, blinking back more tears.

"Imogen broke up with me tonight." He eventually croaked out, his voice hoarse with emotion as he once again looked her in the eye. "I proposed to her tonight and she told me that she didn't love me. She's never loved me." He rubbed his face with his hands as he saw the heartbroken expression on the woman's face. "I'm sorry for waking you up, but I didn't know where else to go."

"Why don't you come in for a coffee and we can chat, hey?" She asked sympathetically and Matt nodded in relief, moving to enter when Rhian tightened her hand slightly on his arm, staying him for a moment. "But I think I should warn you. There's a very large, angry, extremely blonde man in my bed at the moment, so we might want to keep it down a bit, okay?" Matt stared at her curiously, but only nodded as she granted him entry into the room.

"Who is it?" Kevin asked grumpily from the bed as Rhiannon switched on the kettle.

"Matt Hardy." She replied, serving the dark haired man a reassuring smile as Kevin sat bolt upright at the news. "My sister has issues, he just needs some advice is all. Go back to sleep babe, we'll talk quietly." Her tone of voice left no room for argument, so Kevin lay back down, grumbling under his breath, obviously not impressed. "Sorry about that, dear. He's really a sweetie, but he worries about me having guy friends." Rhiannon explained to Matt quietly as she passed him his coffee, seeming slightly embarrassed about the circumstances, but Matt nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I was the same with Jeff and Imogen for a while, but only because I knew that he had feelings for her. It was stupid, I know." He admitted, looking ashamed and Rhiannon shook her head.

"Oh Matt, that's all in the past now, and besides, you know Jeff, he can't hold a grudge for long."

"But it was all for nothing." He sighed, staring into the dark coffee blankly. "I love her, Rhiannon, I thought she was the one. I did it all for her, and for what? A kick in the teeth."

"Matt, what did she say to you? What happened tonight?" She asked gently, not wanting to seem pushy, but knowing he would feel better if he got it all out now. Matt was silent for quite a while, taking a few sips of his coffee in the interim while Rhiannon sat back in her seat, observing him silently, waiting until he was ready to speak.

"It was perfect, Rhiannon, everything was set up perfectly. I got us the honeymoon sweet in a hotel across town. I organised a dinner for all of us; me, Imogen and Kiara, at a restaurant overlooking the beach. It was so beautiful...she was so beautiful." He reminisced, his hand tightening around the coffee mug as his anger started to rise again. "She's been acting strange all week, really quiet, but I thought that was just because of the problems the two of you were having. I had no idea what was really going through her mind." He said bitterly, and Rhiannon looked away ashamed as Matt continued. "After dinner, I got down on one knee and asked Imogen to marry me. Kiara was so happy, she had the biggest smile on her face that I've ever seen. But Imogen just started to cry. She said she was sorry, that she never meant it to go this far, but that she didn't love me. She never loved me." A sob suddenly escaped him as he remembered the horrified expression on her face when he'd asked her the question. "She said that she'd tried to end it, but didn't know how. That's when it all started to make sense, her flirting with Jeff and all my friends, all the talk of marriage early in the relationship. She wanted to break up with over a year ago, but she just didn't have the guts." He spat, his face contorted with anger and grief. "And then Kiara started screaming at her, that she couldn't believe Imogen had done this again and that she never wanted to see her again. She ran out of the restaurant and Imogen followed her. That's the last I saw of them." Panic overtook Rhiannon momentarily at the thought of Kiara wandering the streets alone.

"Kiara ran away?" Matt saw the concern in Rhiannon's eyes.

"It's okay, I spoke briefly with Jeff, she went to his hotel room and he's letting her stay the night. I would have gone to him, but I didn't need anyone to tell me 'I told you so.' And I don't think I could have faced Kiara anyway. That's why I thought of you, you're the only other person who knows her as well as I do. Maybe you could explain why she'd do this to me." He asked, his chocolate eyes pleading for answers that Rhiannon knew she couldn't give him.

"You know, you're not the first person she's done this to, and I've always been there to pick up the pieces after she's broken someone's heart, but I've never been able to give them a reason why she does what she does. I'm so sorry." She placed a hand over Matt's as his eyes filled with tears again.

"I can't sleep." Rhiannon and Matt jumped at the sound of Kevin's voice behind them. "I'm going for a walk." He strode out the room without a backward glance, slamming the door so hard behind him that the walls shook.

"Jealous?" Matt grunted the question and Rhiannon nodded with a wry smile.

"As much as he always tries to deny it, yeah, he hates me getting close to any other guy, even though he knows that he's the only one I want." She sighed, resting her head on the back of the couch.

"You don't need that shit, Rhiannon. You're one of the most loyal people I know." Rhiannon laughed lightly.

"How could you possibly know that Matt? You barely know me at all."

"But I know everything that Jeff, Kiara and Shane have told me. And I know what I've seen. The only reason you went back to the ring in the first place was to make sure Kiara was okay. I admire you so much for that." He took a deep breath, looking deeply into her eyes. "And even though you and Imogen never got along, I've never disliked you. I saw you Rhiannon, and I knew you were an amazing person. I knew I could trust you, and that's never happened to me before. I guess that's why I'm here." He admitted truthfully, gazing intensely at Rhiannon as tears filled her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and forced a laugh.

"I don't know what to say, Matt. To be perfectly honest, when I first met you, I really didn't know what to think. I suppose that's because my sister's taste in men was never very good. But I have to say, I don't know what she's thinking, giving you up like that. No one's ever taken care of her and accepted her and Kiara the way you have. I was so relieved when I saw the way you treated them, I knew they were in good hands." She smiled resignedly as she saw Matt's expression tightened again and she decided to change the subject. "Look, I want you to stay here tonight. We've got a spare bed, and I doubt you'd want to chance running into Imogen at the other hotel." She said quietly, gesturing to the single bed beside her and Kevin's double, but Matt shook his head.

"And what would Fertig think about that?" He asked dryly, causing Rhiannon to laugh.

"Do I look like I care? You need support right now, and I'm damn well not going to let you wander the streets all night in the state you're in." She said stubbornly and Matt laughed.

"Well, if you think you can handle the behemoth, then I guess I won't argue. I just don't want to cause any trouble for you, that's all."

"Believe me, I'll be in more trouble with Jeff if I don't make sure you're okay." She joked, causing Matt to choke on his laughter. "Matt, it's late and we all have an early start tomorrow. Please, just stay. We'll work out all the other details tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." He replied with a grateful smile. "Thank you Rhiannon, you really are an angel." He told her sincerely and the redhead rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I think we've gone way beyond mushy tonight, and to be honest, I don't like mushy. Just get some sleep and I'll be happy." Rhiannon patted him gently on the shoulder, before walking away, a troubled expression marring her features.


End file.
